Professor Mari Firkatian presenting new book this month

On Thursday, February 21, Professor Mari Firkatian will present her newest publication Home Again, in which she brilliantly combines Armenian cuisine with the anecdotal struggles of an immigrant family. Presenting and contextualizing over 175 recipes, Firkatian not only provides the reader with the novel and exciting recipes but also includes personal stories, songs and poems which serve as a reminder that culture is primarily composed of individuals.

She examines the relationship between cuisine and history and researches the importance of food on an evolving society. Firkatian wrote this book in order to preserve her own culture and share the experiences of communities that no longer exist.

The presentation will take place at the AGBU New England Center at 7:30 p.m. and is open to the public. Professor Mari Firkatian is a Fulbright Scholar, a recipient of International Research and Exchanges Board scholarships, and a Yale University fellow.

She currently teaches Western Civilization I and II along with Global History I and II. She received her Ph.D. in History from Indiana University along with a Master’s in Slavic Languages and Literature. She went on to study Russian and French at the University of Connecticut.

Firkatian has lived in parts of Southeast Europe and the countries which comprised the Former Soviet Union. Her research interests include minority populations, diplomatic history, the politics of food culture, gender studies, and nationalism, but her main passion rests in teaching students as “it can be fun to teach in such a way that their curiosity about the past is aroused and their passion for understanding it stimulated.”