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Department of Anthropology

Cornell University Cornell University Cornell Univeristy Department of Anthropology

Jane Fajans


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Jane Fajans

Professor of Anthropology

Jane Fajans, Cornell AnthropologyPh.D., Stanford University, 1985

jf20@cornell.edu
607-255-8662
Office: McGraw 202

Research Interests: the anthropology of food, symbolic anthropology, work, personhood, Melanesia, Oceania, Brazil, Portugal

My long term research has been in Papua New Guinea with the Baining of East New Britain Province. My interests originally focused on ritual and socialization, but I have also examined aspects of personhood, emotion, identity, and value. In analyzing my Baining material, I have been fascinated by the role that food has played in many aspects of Baining social and cultural processes, and in particular on the process of adoption which is so important in their society. My interest in food originated in this ethnographic context but has expanded through teaching and reading.

My current research examines food and identity in several contexts quite removed from Melanesia. Last year I began a research project in Brazil on regional food (and cuisine) and its relationship to regional identity. I have been studying Portuguese and reading up on my new geographical area. To date, I have undertaken food studies in three regions in Brazil and I am looking forward to a return visit in 2007 to expand this base. In addition to interviewing people and eating, I have attended cooking classes and studied the way food has become an important part of the tourist industry. In a related but divergent vein, I am also initiating a research project in Portugal. My interest in Portuguese food is two-fold. On the one hand, I am interested in the culinary connections between Portugal and Brazil and the multidirectional migrations between these two countries. On the other hand, I am interested in the way Portugal is using food products to enhance its relations in Europe and expand its role in the European Union. I hope to continue this research in parallel with the work in Brazil over the next several years.

Fellowships, Grants, and Awards

  • 2007 — CU-Advance Grant for Women Associate Professors through the National Science Foundation.

Publications and Papers

Forthcoming

  • Seria A Moqueca Apenas Uma Peixada? Alimentação E Identidade Em Salvador, Bahia (Brazil) in "Anthropology of Food", special number Modelos alimenticios y recomposiciones sociales en América Latina/ Modelos alimentares e recomposições sociais na America Latina", C.E. de Suremain & E. Katz (eds).

2008

  • "Can moqueca just be fish stew? Food and identity in Salvador, Bahia (Brazil)" reprinted simultaneously on the OCHA website online at: http://www.lemangeur-ocha.com.
  • “Can Moqueca Just Be Fish Stew? Bahian Food and Bahian Identity.” In Anthropology of Food. Edition?S 4 Modèles alimentaires et recompositions sociales en Amérique Latine, que editei com Charles-Edouard de Suremain. Online at: http://aof.revues.org.
  • "Food and Ghosts: Dance in the Context of Baining Life.” In Pulling the Right Thread: Essays in Honor of Jane Goodale. Edited by Laura Zimmer

2007

  • “Açaí: From the Amazon to the World.” Paper presented at University of Panará, October 20, 2007 and University of Santa Catarina, October 25, 2007.
  • “A Tale of Two Moquecas.” Paper presented at the University of Brasilia, June 20, 2007, and at University of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande de Sul, July 6, 2007

2006

  • “Can Moqueca Just Be Fish Stew? Bahian Food and Bahian Identity” Paper presented at the International Congress of Americanists, Seville, Spain July 16-21.