In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Alexandra Cenatus!
About Alexandra Cenatus: PhD student in the language and literature program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, director of programs at Maryland Humanities, and commissioner at the MD250 Commission. Her work spans public humanities, food studies, and Haitian cultural history.
Alexandra joins the podcast and introduces herself and her work for listeners who may be meeting her for the first time, walking through just how many roles she holds at once — and why each one connects to the others.
We get into her doctoral dissertation on Haitian food ways, which examines the cultural, social, and historical dimensions of food within Haitian communities — exploring everything from pre-colonial food histories and the legacies of slavery and sugar cane production to the deeply communal meanings embedded in how Haitian people gather and eat together.
Cenatus also opens up about her work at Maryland Humanities, including a new initiative she designed called the Civic Moonshine project — a youth engagement program with three components: field trip funding for middle schools, an essay contest for high schoolers to envision Maryland's next fifty years, and civic panels at community colleges.
She also reflects on co-authoring the Haitian American Dream Timeline, a digital humanities project chronicling Haitian immigration to the U.S., and what that work taught her about archiving, the gaps she found in the historical record, and going outside of the archive to bring in the voices and experiences of Haitian immigrants.
Be sure to connect with Alexandra Cenatus on LinkedIn and visit Maryland Humanities at mdhumanities.org to learn about their programs, grants, and how to get involved.
Photo courtesy of subject
Learn more about Alexandra's work with Maryland Humanities
The Truth In This Art is supported by William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial Fund, the Maryland State Arts Council's Creativity Grant and Mayor's Individual Artist Award - Creative Baltimore Fund (Baltimore).
Host: Rob Lee
Music: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.
Production:
- Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel Alexis
- Edited by Daniel Alexis
- Show Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and Transistor
Photos:
- Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media.
- Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.
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