Seminar Overview:
This seminar, administered by CAORC in collaboration with its member center in Mexico, the Americas Research Network (ARENET), is a two-week academic culinary program based in Mexico City, Puebla, and Oaxaca. Through lectures, site visits, workshops, and experiential learning, the program explores Mexican gastronomy as a lens for understanding migration, sustainability, cultural heritage, and global exchange.
Mexican cuisine – recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity – reflects centuries of cultural interaction, environmental adaptation, and social transformation. Participants will examine how Indigenous agricultural knowledge, historical trade networks, colonial encounters, and contemporary migration have shaped culinary traditions and food systems in Mexico and beyond. The seminar includes engagement with scholars, chefs, farmers, cultural practitioners, and community organizations working at the intersection of food, culture, sustainability, and identity.
Program activities include visits to markets, farms, culinary institutions, museums, libraries, and heritage sites, along with demonstrations, tastings, and discussions focused on food systems, sustainability, and cultural continuity. Participants will gain insight into historical and contemporary connections between Mexico and the United States, including the movement of people, ingredients, culinary practices, and environmental knowledge.
Seminar dates: January 4-16, 2027 (actual seminar dates, not inclusive of travel)
Eligibility
The program is open to full-time or part-time faculty and administrators at accredited U.S. colleges and universities. Culinary educators and faculty from all disciplines are encouraged to apply, particularly those interested in incorporating global perspectives, cultural heritage, food studies, migration studies, environmental humanities, or interdisciplinary international content into their teaching or institutional programming. Non-teaching professionals are welcome to apply and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The application deadline for this seminar is September 15, 2026 at 5:00 PM EST.
If you have questions, please email: fellowships@caorc.org.
OFDS Enrichment Program: Culinary Routes: Migration, Sustainability, and Mexican Gastronomy
Seminar Overview:
This seminar, administered by CAORC in collaboration with its member center in Mexico, the Americas Research Network (ARENET), is a two-week academic culinary program based in Mexico City, Puebla, and Oaxaca. Through lectures, site visits, workshops, and experiential learning, the program explores Mexican gastronomy as a lens for understanding migration, sustainability, cultural heritage, and global exchange.
Mexican cuisine – recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity – reflects centuries of cultural interaction, environmental adaptation, and social transformation. Participants will examine how Indigenous agricultural knowledge, historical trade networks, colonial encounters, and contemporary migration have shaped culinary traditions and food systems in Mexico and beyond. The seminar includes engagement with scholars, chefs, farmers, cultural practitioners, and community organizations working at the intersection of food, culture, sustainability, and identity.
Program activities include visits to markets, farms, culinary institutions, museums, libraries, and heritage sites, along with demonstrations, tastings, and discussions focused on food systems, sustainability, and cultural continuity. Participants will gain insight into historical and contemporary connections between Mexico and the United States, including the movement of people, ingredients, culinary practices, and environmental knowledge.
Seminar dates: January 4-16, 2027 (actual seminar dates, not inclusive of travel)
Eligibility
The program is open to full-time or part-time faculty and administrators at accredited U.S. colleges and universities. Culinary educators and faculty from all disciplines are encouraged to apply, particularly those interested in incorporating global perspectives, cultural heritage, food studies, migration studies, environmental humanities, or interdisciplinary international content into their teaching or institutional programming. Non-teaching professionals are welcome to apply and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The application deadline for this seminar is September 15, 2026 at 5:00 PM EST.
If you have questions, please email: fellowships@caorc.org.