Springfield resident named recipient of Sias Graduate Fellowship at University of Kansas

LAWRENCE, KS (04/23/2012)(readMedia)-- Damon Talbott, a doctoral candidate in American studies at the University of Kansas, has been selected as the recipient of the Richard and Jeanette Sias Graduate Fellowship in the Humanities for 2012-13. He will spend a year in residence at the Hall Center, where he will complete his dissertation, "Making Sense of Taste: Duncan Hines and American Gastronomy, 1930-1960."

Talbott, of Springfield, Va., received a bachelor's in religion from Amherst College in 2002 and a master's in American studies from KU in 2008. He attended West Springfield High School. His parents are Elaine Kudla Talbott and David Lee Talbott.

He has a strong track record of academic success and leadership, as demonstrated through his role as co-chair of the American Studies Association of Graduate Students, committee work for the Humanities and Western Civilization program, and his recent award as the Dean's Graduate Instructor.

The goal of the Richard and Jeannette Sias Graduate Fellowship is to allow KU humanities doctoral students to expand their experiences beyond a single disciplinary focus in both research and professional training. The fellowship is intended to produce humanities scholars whose vision for their careers includes a continued commitment to interdisciplinary endeavors and a desire to share that commitment with the world outside of the academy. The fellowship is made possible through the generous gift of Richard and Jeanette Sias of Oklahoma City, for whom the award is named.

Talbott's dissertation project will argue that a distinctly "American" gastronomy emerged between 1930 and 1960 as middle-class consumers, setting out to explore the country, created a national, homogeneous sense of taste from various regional foodways. Talbott asserts that taste is a process, not an object or state, and he argues that an assemblage of knowledge, technologies, institutions and media supported this burgeoning consciousness and lent social significance to its cultural production.

"I am very honored and humbled to receive this award," Talbott said, "but moreover excited to make the most of this opportunity to focus solely on writing my dissertation. Funding in the humanities is limited, so the generosity of Richard and Jeanette Sias is deeply appreciated."

As the Sias Fellow, Talbott will deliver a public lecture regarding his research project in Spring 2013.

Talbott will be the seventh recipient of the Sias Fellowship. Jason Roe, a doctoral candidate in the history department, is the current Sias Fellow.

Talbott will be joining faculty resident fellows at the Hall Center during the 2012-2013 academic year. The faculty fellows are Jonathan Earle, history; Paul Scott, French and Italian; Kathryn Rhine, anthropology; Ann Wierda Rowland, English; Stanley Lombardo, classics; and Forrest Pierce, music.