Tasha G. Oren is Associate Professor of English and Media Studies and teaches in the Media, Cinema and Digital Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is the author of Demon in the Box: Jews, Arabs, Politics and Culture (2004), co-editor of Global Formats: Understanding Television Across Borders (2012), Global Currents: Media and Technology Now (2004) East Main Street: Asian American Popular Culture (2005) and Global Asian American Cultures (2016). She has published numerous articles on film, television, screenwriting, Neurodiversity and food media and is currently at work on a book manuscript on food culture and television as well as the forthcoming collection The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Feminism.

Abstract:
From Home Dish to Worldly Plate: American Cooking, Television, and the Emergence of Contemporary Food Culture

This presentation weaves together the early evolution of cooking programs on American television and the history of Chinese food in the US to arrive at Joyce Chen, the first woman of color to host a national cooking show on American television in 1967. The talk will trace early U.S. television food programming (from local daytime cooking advice on fledgling stations in the late 40s to the cooking instructional format in the 50s and 60s) to discuss shifting ideas about cooking and eating in American food history in the 20^th century. Focusing particularly on Chinese American food and changing US eating and cooking habits in the post-war period, the talk highlights the often-ignored participation of minority and immigrant cooks in the development of now-classic genres of television cooking. The talk will further argue for these early shows, and a particular televisual style, as foundational for an emerging mainstream food culture.