Graduate Seminar: Measuring The 1.5 Generation of Eritrean Immigrants’ Cultural Affinity to Food

Ph.D. Student Milen Mehari's dissertation examines the 1.5 generation of Eritrean immigrants in North American cities and their relationship to the homeland through a review of their consumption habits of traditional Eritrean cuisines. This research illuminates the particular and unique diaspora communities of Eritrean migrants that have formed in the occupied Turtle Islands, now known as the United States, and more specifically four major U.S. cities: Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) tri-state metropolitan; Dallas, Texas; Oakland, California; and Seattle, Washington. The urbanized nature of cities makes them a desirable space for recent migrants to settle, due to their existing immigrant networks, material support provided by the municipality, and the heightened prospects for economic mobility. Thus, this dissertation is guided by the interdisciplinary framework of food studies, diaspora studies, and urban studies to conduct a nuanced and wholistic exploration of Eritrean diaspora members’ relationship to their homeland and their new-lands of residence.

The African Studies Graduate Seminar Series takes place bi-monthly at the Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center at Howard University. It allows graduate students to share their research work with the Department of African Studies, the Center for African Studies and the university at large, while receiving constructive feedback.