Marcie Ferris at her home in Chapel Hill, NC. Photo by Kate Medley

Marcie Cohen Ferris, author of The Edible South, is a professor of American studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ferris’ research and teaching interests include the history of the Jewish South and the foodways and material culture of the American South. The Edible South: The Power of Food and the Making of an American Regionexamines the visceral connection between Southern food and the politics of power from the colonial period to the present.

At this special Legacies & Lunch, co-hosted by the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies and the Clinton School of Public Service, Ferris will talk about the power of food to nourish cultures as well as people’s bodies and the way it helps people understand the South – from scholars and chefs to casual consumers and hardcore foodies. Books will be available for purchase, and Ferris will sign copies after her talk.

The Butler Center’s Legacies & Lunch program is free and open to the public and supported in part by the Arkansas Humanities Council. Attendees are invited to bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert will be provided.

The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies is a department of the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS). It was founded in 1997 to promote the study and appreciation of Arkansas history and culture. The Butler Center’s research collections, art galleries, and offices are located in the Arkansas Studies Institute building at 401 President Clinton Ave. on the campus of the CALS Main Library.