I am writing an anthropological book about the revival of artisan and farmstead cheese making in the United States. I have conducted ethnographic research by visiting creameries and dairy farms and interviewing cheese makers in New England, Wisconsin, and northern California. The book will be organized around two sets of questions. The first situates cheese within contemporary food politics by exploring farmstead production as a form of alternative agriculture. The second considers artisan cheese making as a post-industrial form of craft practice.

I am looking to work with a student research partner in utilizing the Schlesinger Library’s culinary collection. The research partner will explore the archives for material relating to the nineteenth century transition from (farm women’s) domestic cheese making to (men’s) factory cheese production and also investigate the role of women in domestic alternative food movements of the 1960s–1980s. A second project for the student will be to transcribe recorded interviews I conducted with cheese makers. Although transcription can be tedious work, the experience will give the student a good sense of the give and take involved in open-ended interviewing. Additional projects may become available.

The ideal research partner will be a quick reader who is well able to summarize content and a proficient typist. An interest in food, and a taste for cheese, will also help!