Embedded Files
In Spring 2026, members of the ECAR at Clemson Leadership Team created a hybrid oral history-cookbook publication, curated from transcribed oral history recordings.
Interspersed among the families’ heirloom recipes of dishes ranging from fufu to aushak were selected snippets of each family’s life history; through sharing a sampling of gastronomic traditions as well as stories of resettlement with the public, the families hope to foster community and shared belonging.
Oral history techniques were used that empower the refugee families: for example, instead of a rigid interviewer/interviewee dialectic, our student researchers employed a facilitator/narrator dynamic, where our narrators possessed full control over what was discussed and recorded. Moreover, every word, photograph, and description received the explicit consent of each family prior to publication.
ECAR at Clemson printed 300 copies of the inaugural first edition cookbook, Every Place at the Table, and disseminated copies to refugee families, students, faculty, and our network of support.
In the future, we hope to publish a second edition including oral histories, recipes, and photographs of additional refugee families as well as those of ECAR students. The ultimate goal is to connect students and refugees through literature such as the oral history-cookbook, allowing students and refugees to celebrate our respective roots and heritage together, as one community.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse