Food Stories: A Narrative-Based Approach to Analyzing International Students, Food, and Community
In Fall 2024, we partnered with Kuwait Aid Network (KAN) on a research project that analyzes the relationship between food, community, and narrative arts for international students. Funded by the Conestoga New and Emerging Research Grant +, this project explores how the intersection of writing/narrative arts and food (writing about food, telling stories about food, and sharing recipes, for example) can provide students with an avenue to articulate identity, reduce isolation, and strengthen community.
Combining qualitative and quantitative research, we conducted a comprehensive survey on students’ eating habits and beliefs around food and community, and we held writing pop-up events at Conestoga's Guelph, Waterloo, and Doon campuses.
Our partner, KAN, will also host two student-community dinners.