By Claire McGranahan
In under a week, Brandon Dean, assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Religious Studies, and a Ph.D candidate shadowing him for the semester, Allison Isidore, created and executed an inspiring multi-purpose event.
At once a pop-up food drive, a showcase of Religious Studies scholars and instructors, a course shopping event, and an ad hoc class on cultural foods and their place in religion, the event was open to the community to come learn, taste, and benefit. The cost of admission? One canned food item.
“I have had a food drive in my classes for the past few years and donated to the food pantry in the IMU and the domestic violence shelter,” Dean said. “We wanted to help out due to the withholding of SNAP benefits, so Allison and I came up with the idea to add a public educational component that would be open to anyone who was interested in attending.”
Dean posted flyers inviting the community to attend at the Iowa City Public Library, in downtown Iowa City coffee shops, and at Prairie Lights Books and Cafe.
“Eventually, we settled on the Small Bites format to reduce the burden on the volunteers, but also keep a mixed audience engaged with short bursts of content,” Dean said.
Each presenter had five minutes to discuss a food or beverage item and its cultural significance within a religion. In addition to the mini lecture, samples of the foods and beverages that were discussed were available for attendees to try following the program.
“The food samples were designed to give the audience an embodied experience to supplement the mini lectures—mind, body, and all the senses,” Dean said.
Presenters included undergraduate students, graduate students, professors, and even the Department Executive Officer of the Department of Religious Studies, Paul Dilley. He discussed the Manichean people and their leaders’ practice of eating foods that were thought to be particularly full of light, and then perhaps singing to God to pass on the that purification through praise.
But before his talk, Dilley thanked Dean and Isidore for putting the event together. “It's a fabulous event and important charity,” he said. “Thank you all for being here and also for enjoying all of the interesting things that we can talk to each other about, from undergraduates to faculty.”
