Who We Are
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Frederick Opie

  • Professor
Academic Division: History & Society
781-239-5611
CV

Bio

Dr. Frederick Douglass Opie is a Babson Professor of History and Foodways, the author of articles, books, a food history blog, and the Producer/Host of the Fred Opie Show. Fred is also the Host/Producer of the Online Teaching Survival Guide: A 7-Part Audio Series. Fred's work examines history through the lens of food and he use history to positively impact the future. Fred's secret sauce his sharing the stupid tax he has paid so others can learn from his failures. For more visit his website @ FredOpie.com.

Academic Degrees

  • Ph D, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University
  • BS, Syracuse University

Academic Interest / Expertise

Food Traditions; Social Movements; Student Athletes ages 14 to 24

Awards & Honors

  • 2012 — Sheila Biddle Ford Foundation Fellow, W. E. B. Du Bois Institute, Harvard University
  • 2011 — C. V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, Frederick Douglass Fellowship, Washington College
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Courses

  • Degree Courses 2023

    • HSS 2032 AFRICAN HISTORY AND FOODWAYS
    • HIS 4640 FOOD AND CIVIL RIGHTS

  • Degree Courses 2022

    • HSS 2032 AFRICAN HISTORY AND FOODWAYS
    • CVA 2002 AFR AMERICAN HISTORY AND FOODWAYS
    • HIS 4640 FOOD AND CIVIL RIGHTS

  • Degree Courses 2021

    • CVA 2090 FOOD AND THE AFRICAN AMER CANON
    • AHS 1000 FOUND CRITICAL INQ

Publications

Books

  • Opie, F.D. (2017). Southern Food and Civil Rights: Feeding the Revolution : Southern Food and Civil Rights: Feeding the Revolution . Page: 192. American Palate . link
  • Opie, F.D. (2015). Zora Neale Hurston on Florida Food: Recipes, Remedies, and Simple Pleasures. Page: 144. The History Press . link
  • Opie, F.D. (2014). Upsetting the Apple Cart: Black-Latino Coalitions in New York City from Protest to Public Office: Columbia History of Urban Life Series. Page: 312. Columbia University Press.
  • Opie, F.D. (2009). Black Labor Migration in Caribbean Guatemala, 1882-1923: Florida Work in the Americas Series. University of Florida Press.

Book Chapters

  • Opie, F.D. (2021). “Dick Gregory’s Self Care Journey and His Guide Dr. Alvenia M. Fulton,” : Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora. Ten Speed Press. link
  • Opie, F.D. (2020). “African American History is American History,” in The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food: The Rise: Black Cooks And The Soul of American Food . Voracious: a new imprint at Little, Brown . link
  • Opie, F.D. (2016). “Clifford Bourne” : Oxford Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography. Oxford Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography. link
  • Opie, F.D. (2014). Influence, Sources, and African Diaspora Foodways : Food in Time and Place: The American Historical Association Companion to Food History. Page: 188-208. University of California Press .
  • Opie, F.D. (2012). Alcohol and Lowdown Culture in Caribbean Guatemala and Honduras, 1898-1922: Distilling the Influence of Alcohol: Aguardiente in Guatemalan History. Page: 96-119. The University of Florida Press.

Other

  • Opie, F.D. (2020). Online Teaching Survival Guide: A 7-Part Audio Series, Prepare to Succeed in the Digital Classroom: https://hbsp.harvard.edu. Harvard Business Publishing Education. link
  • Opie, F.D. (2015). “Zora Neale Hurston on Floridian Food and Culture” . Vol: xxxi, Issue: No 2, Page: 15. Repast, The Quarterly Publication of the Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor. link

Presentations

  • Panel: Black Food Futures: Dreams of a Food Sovereign Black World in Times of Crisis Opie, F. Annual Conference, Virtual (2021)
  • “Food History, Businesses, and Care: Culinary Entrepreneurs, Sourcing, Giving Groceries, and Self-Care” Opie, F. Healthy Food Community of Practice Conference, Virtual (2021)
  • “Hunger and Health: The Devastating Impact of Structural Racism” Opie, F. Share Our Strength and Food & Society , Virtual (2021)
  • “Stumping and Eating, The Role of Food and Politics: 1880s-1960s” Opie, F. Invited Lecture, Virtual (2020)
  • “From Windsor to Ossining and Back: Documenting And Publishing Changing Culinary Traditions” Opie, F. Invited Lecture, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, (2020)
  • “Food Justice Through History” Opie, F. It’s Just Food: A Food Justice Symposium, Phillips Andover Academy (2019)
  • “The Sandwich Brigade and the 1963 March on Washington” Opie, F. Boston Public Library Lecture Series, Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts, (2017)
  • "Sustenance in the Struggle for Freedom" Opie, F. Lecture, Atlanta, Georgia (2017)
  • “Afro Pacific Foodways: From Africa to America” Opie, F. Lecture Series, Evanston, Illinois (2017)
  • Center for the Study of Culture Race & Ethnicity Beyond Community Discussion Series Opie, F. Beyond Community Discussion Series, Ithaca College (2016)
  • Food Justice, Race + Design Panel Opie, F. Black and Design Conference , Cambridge, Massachusetts (2015)
  • “Zora Neale Hurston’s Work on Food-Based Prescriptions for Illnesses: A History” Opie, F. Book Event, Manhattan, NY (2015)
  • “The Culinary World of a Literary Icon: Zora Neale Hurston,” Opie, F. October Meeting , Brooklyn (2015)
  • “Earthenware: A History of Table Traditions and Related Recipes” Opie, F. Annual Meeting , Rhode Island (2015)
  • Panel Discussion, I contributed remarks on molasses history Opie, F. "The African American Experience: Nourishing The Soul Through Music and Food", Boston (2015)
  • Black and Latino Coalitions, the 1960s to Today Opie, F. Boston University, Boston, MA (2014)
  • Atlantic World Foodways Through the Lens of Zora Neale Hurston Opie, F. Atlantic World Foodways: The Carolina Lowcountry, Africa, Italy and Spain, Greensboro, NC (2014)
  • Gender, Food and Culture in American History Opie, F. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (2013)
  • Stumping and Eating: Latino Voters and the Role of Food in 2012 Race to the White House Opie, F. University of Maryland, College Park, MD (2012)
  • Ethnic Borderlands and the Politics of Food in New City 1959 to 1989 Opie, F. Food and the City Conference, Boston, MA (2012)
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Additional Links

Professional Memberships

  • Southern Foodways Alliance (2008 - Present)
  • Association for the Study of Food and Society (2005 - Present)

Department & College Wide Services

  • Athletic Department Advisory Board (Fall 2015 - Present)