September 6, 2017
SARAH J. PORTNOY
12600 Rose Avenue | Los Angeles, CA 90066 | (510) 219-2057 |
Education
University of California, Berkeley May 2005
Ph.D., Romance Languages and Literature
Areas of Expertise
Latino Culinary Culture
Food Justice
Spanish Literature and Culture
Emory University
B.A., summa cum laude, Spanish and Art History. May 1995
American Association for the Council on Teaching of Foreign Languages
Oral Proficiency Interview Certification Spring 2015
Teaching Experience
University of Southern California 2007-Present
Assistant Professor of Teaching, Department of Spanish and Portuguese
American Studies 343, Food, Health and Culture in Latino Los Angeles: This new, community-based seminar was designed around my book, “Food, Health and Culture in Latino Los Angeles.”
Maymester SPAN 499, Food Culture and Activism in Oaxaca: Students spent one week in Los Angeles and three weeks in Oaxaca. I worked on this program for a year prior and spent time in Oaxaca during summer 2016 doing research and making contacts.
American Studies PhD student advisor: During 2016-2017, I worked with Divana Olivas, PhD student in AMST, on her research. I also invited her to participate on a panel at the Food Studies Conference in June 2017.
Global Studies Dissertation Advisor: During 2016-2017, I worked with Sonia Blough, a Global Studies Major, on the writing and research of her senior thesis.
SPAN 490X, Directed Research: I worked with Will Chandler, a Senior Spanish major, on directed research during Fall 2015.
SPAN 316, Food Justice in Latino Los Angeles: This is a seminar I created in 2014 on food justice in Los Angeles’ Latino communities. The students engage in service-learning projects and learn about critical issues that affect the health of local Latinos.
SPAN 385, The Culture of Food in Hispanic Los Angeles: I created this seminar after receiving a grant from the Center for Excellence in Teaching’s Fund for Innovation in Teaching. I use technology and community based learning to teach about Latino food culture in Los Angeles.
SPAN 308, Survey of Spanish and Latin American Poetry: This is a survey course I taught for 4 years. I used my background as a folklorist to integrate Mexican and Spanish oral traditions into the teaching of poetry. I included video recordings from fieldwork into the class.
SPAN 260, Advanced Spanish: Arts and Sciences: I integrated current events into the teaching of grammar and vocabulary in this course.
SPAN 261, Advanced Spanish: Society and the Media: I integrated politics and film into the teaching of grammar and vocabulary in this course.
SPAN 150: I have been teaching this language course for six years.
SPAN 220: I have been teaching this language course for six years.
Oberlin College 2005 - 2006
Visiting Assistant Professor of Modern Spanish Literature
The Journey of the Pan-Hispanic Ballad: from Medieval Iberia to the U.S.-Mexico Border
The Struggle for Modernity: Survey of Spanish Literature of the 19th and 20th Centuries.
Representations of the Other: Women, Jews and Gypsies in Spanish Culture.
University of California, Berkeley
Graduate Student Instructor 1997 – 2005
HONORS AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Recipient: Faculty Development Grant, USC Dean’s Office Summer 2017
I organized a panel and roundtable about teaching food justice at the annual Association for the Study of Food and Society conference.
Recipient: USC Good Neighbors Campaign Grant 2016-2017
I was the Faculty Advisor to Groceryships, a local health and wellness non-profit in South L.A. My students have conducted Spanish-language interviews with members of Groceryships since Spring 2015.
Recipient: Faculty Development Grant, USC Dean’s Office Summer 2016
I gave a talk related to pedagogy (“Teaching Food Justice”) at the Food Studies conference in Toronto, Canada.
Recipient: Faculty Development Grant, USC Dean’s Office Spring 2015
I participated in the Stanford Business School’s Authenticity Workshop with academics from diverse fields.
Recipient: USC Good Neighbors Campaign Grant Summer 2015
I collaborated with Proyecto Jardín, a community garden in Boyle Heights. My students volunteered in the garden with Spanish-speaking members.
Invited Workshop, Brown University, Global Latin America Spring 2014
I attended a workshop at Brown University to discuss the articles submitted for a book to which I had contributed, Global Latin America. We met to reflect on one another’s work.
Faculty Development Grant Fall 2014
Recipient:
Center for Excellence in Teaching Fund for Innovative Teaching Spring 2010
I used this $5,000 grant to develop a new course, The Culture of Food in Latino Los Angeles. I used the money to do research in Mexico, purchase books, and give students funds to spend on food during the first course.
HONORS AT UC BERKELEY
Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor 2003-2004
Chancellor’s Dissertation Year Fellowship, UC Berkeley 2002-2003
SERVICE TO DEPARTMENT AND UNIVERSITY
Member. Extracurricular Activities Committee. 2017-2018
Speaker. Microseminar for Freshman Orientation 2017
Organizer. New Maymester Program. 2016-2017
Interviewee. Interview with Annenberg students on food deserts. Spring 2017
Attendee. Norman Topping Student Scholars Luncheon. Oct. 16, 2016
Speaker. Spanish for the Health Professions. Oct. 31, 2016
Attendee. Faculty Recognition Scholarship Dinners. Fall 2016
Examiner. Five Fulbright Diagnostic Exams. Fall 2015
Developed SPAN 316: “Food Justice in Latino Los Angeles.” Fall 2014
Participant. USC Explore Faculty-Parent Dinner. Spring 2014
Host. Spanish Department Film Series Fall 2014
Advisor. USC Marshall Program’s Society and Business Lab’s
Undergraduate Entrepreneur Program. Spring 2013
Panelist. Visions and Voices Panel Spring 2013
“Just Food and Fair Food: A Multidisciplinary Exploration.”
Speaker. Micro-Seminars for Freshman Orientation. 2013, 2014
Member. Merit Evaluation Committee Spring 2013
SERVICE TO COMMUNITY
Invited Speaker. Garden School Foundation Roundtable August 2017
Member. Friend of the Board of Garden School Foundation August 2017
Faculty Advisor, USC Good Neighbors Campaign, Groceryships 2016-2017
Faculty Advisor, USC Good Neighbors Campaign, Proyecto Jardín 2015-2016
Publications
Authored Books
Food, Health, and Culture in Latino L.A., Rowman & Littlefield, December 2016.
The Incest Ballad of Delgadina: Oral Tradition from Medieval Spain to Latin America. Lambert Publishing Company, 2012.
Contributions to Books
Sarah Portnoy and Jeffrey Pilcher, “Roy Choi, Ricardo Zárate, and Pacific Fusion Cuisine in Los Angeles.” Global Latin America. Ed. Matthew Gutmann and Jeffrey Lesser. University of California Press, 2015.
“Authenticity (of cuisines).” SAGE Encyclopedia of Food Issues. Ed. Ken Albala. Sage Publishing Co., 2015.
“Mexican-American Cuisine.” Latino Studies Bibliography. Ed. Ilan Stavans. Oxford University Press, 2013.
“The Décima in the Contemporary World: Hispanic Oral Traditions in the Classroom, on the Internet and Beyond.” In Spain's Multicultural Legacies. Studies in Honor of Samuel G. Armistead. Edited by Adrienne L. Martin and Cristina Martinez-Carazo. Juan de la Cuesta, 2008. 119-144.
“¡Qué me siegue esta cebada!’ and other euphemistic metaphors in the ballad tradition.” In Wine, Women, and Song. Hebrew and Arabic Literature of Medieval Iberia. Newark, Delaware: Juan de la Cuesta Press, 2004.
Articles in Local News and Academic Journals
“L.A.’s Street Vendors aren’t Giving Up the Fight for Food Cart Legalization,” LA Weekly, January 25, 2017, http://www.laweekly.com/restaurants/las-street-vendors-arent-giving-up-the-fight-for-food-cart-legalization-7856950
“This Lush Garden at a South L.A. School helps Kids Learn about Veggies-and Eat Them, Too,” LA Weekly, February 25, 2017, http://www.laweekly.com/restaurants/this-lush-garden-at-a-south-la-school-helps-kids-learn-about-veggies-and-eat-them-too-7970147
“The Transatlantic Ballad of ‘Delgadina’: from Medieval Spain to Contemporary Cuba.” La Corónica: A Journal of Medieval Spanish Language and Literature 35.2 (Spring 2007): 123-138.
Reviews
“Dr. Francisco Hernández Ate Tacos: The Foods and Drinks of the Mexican Treasury.” Diálogo. (2014).
Edited Collections
Wine, Women and Song: Hebrew and Arabic Literature in Medieval Iberia, co-edited with Michelle Hamilton, David Wacks and Sarah Portnoy. Newark, Delaware: Juan de la Cuesta, 2004.
PAPERS AND LECTURES
Invited Lectures:
Book Event: “Food, Health and Culture in Latino Los Angeles,” Sponsored by the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and USC Libraries, January 16, 2017.
Book Event: “Food, Health and Culture in Latino Los Angeles,” La Plaza de Cultura y Artes, Los Angeles, March 16, 2017.
“Pan de Vida,” Los Angeles Bread Festival, Grand Central Market, Los Angeles, June 6, 2015.
“Teaching about the History of Mexican Food in Los Angeles.” Cal State Dominguez Hills, October 15, 2014.
“Just Food and Fair Food: A Multidisciplinary Exploration.” University of Southern California, March 1, 2013.
“Teaching about the Culture of Food in Los Angeles.” University of Southern California, August 22, 2013.
“Integrating Community Involvement in the Classroom.” Center for Excellence in Teaching. February 11, 2011.
“The Border Crossed Me: Immigration in the Corridos of Los Tigres del Norte.” Corrido Conference in Honor of Guillermo Hernandez and Lalo Guerrero. University of California, Santa Barbara. May 7-9, 2008.
“The Pan-Hispanic Ballad Tradition: Explorations and Discoveries of Folklore in Spain and Latin America.” Pasadena, CA. May 13, 2007.
“Women’s Issues in Sephardic Ballads,” Magnes Museum, Berkeley, CA. Sept. 23, 2004.
Conference Papers:
“Teaching Food Justice,” Roundtable Leader, Association for the Study of Food and Society Conference, Occidental College, June 16, 2017.
“The Rise of Alta California Cuisine in Los Angeles,” Association for the Study of Food and Society Conference, Occidental College, June 15, 2017.
“Teaching Food Justice in Latino Los Angeles.” Association for the Study of Food and Society Conference, University of Toronto, June 23, 2016.
“Mexican Culinary Culture in Los Angeles.” Global Gateways and Local Connections: City, Agriculture and the Future of Food Systems. New York University, June 2012.
“A Quest for Authenticity: Teaching about the Tradition of Mexican Food in Los Angeles.” Western States 70th Annual Conference. University of Southern California, Los Angeles. April 12-14, 2011.
“Sephardic Jewish Identity in Cuba.” Diaspora and Return: Sephardic Jews Beyond Spain. UC Irvine Conference on Sephardic Studies. Irvine, CA. March 6, 2008.
“The Décima in the Contemporary World: Hispanic Oral Traditions in the Classroom, on the Internet, and Beyond.” Invited Participant. Conference Honoring Samuel Armistead. Davis, CA. November 2007.
“Tamar y Amnón: Rape and Resistance in a Hispanic Ballad and in the poetry of García Lorca.” International Conference of Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Michigan. May 2005.
“Delgadina in Michoacán: a Conflict between Local and Global Cultures.” International Ballad Conference. Austin, Texas. Summer 2003.
“The romance of Silvana or How to Dupe Your Dad.” Conference in Honor of Américo Castro. Berkeley, California. Spring 2003.
“Delgadina: Father-Daughter Incest in a Cuban Children’s Song.” International Conference of Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Michigan. Spring 2002.
“The Romance of Delgadina or Why Do Women Sing about Incest?” New Mexico Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Spring 2002.
“¡Qué me siegue esta cebada!’ and other euphemistic metaphors in the ballad tradition.” Conference on Hebrew and Arabic Poetry in Medieval Iberia, Berkeley, California. Spring 2001.