Filed under “Restorative Narrative Fellows doing Amazing Things”, Liana Aghajanian (Class of ’17) is documenting the connection between food and identity in her project Dining in Diaspora, Documenting the Armenian-American Food Experience. Her website explains: “For people who have been on the move for over a century, who have lost their families, cities and language, food is the closest thing that encapsulates the feeling of being rooted. Food tells us stories about politics, history, immigration, identity and finding yourself.”
Liana describes Dining in Diaspora’s connection with her Restorative Narrative work on the collaborative efforts of Native American tribes and scientists to help indigenous communities reclaim the bones of their ancestors (look for this coming soon):
“Though it’s not directly related to my ivoh fellowship, the same themes that have carried much of my work and interests are reflected in this project – exile, trauma, marginalization but also survival and resilience. Documenting the experience of Armenians in America through food and the hidden, yet pioneering ways in which they have shaped American culinary tradition is a way for me to explore the complexity of a community through the universal language of food during a polarizing time in America.”