Diana Garvin is an Assistant Professor of Italian with a specialty in Mediterranean Studies in the Department of Romance Languages at the University of Oregon.  She conducted her postdoctoral research at the American Academy in Rome as the 2017-2018 Rome Prize winner for Modern Italian Studies. She received her PhD from Cornell University and her AB from Harvard University.  Garvin’s research examines the history of everyday life across Fascist Italy and Italian East Africa.  In her book, Feeding Fascism: The Politics of Women's Food Work (now available with University of Toronto Press) she uses food as a lens to examine daily negotiations of power between women and the Fascist state. Garvin often writes articles on everyday life under Italian Fascism for journals like Critical Inquiry, Journal of Modern European History, Journal of Modern Italian History, Modern Italy, Annali d’italianistica, Design Issues, Food and Foodways, gender/sexuality/italy and Signs.  Fellowships and awards from Fulbright, Getty Library, Oxford University, Cornell University, University of Oregon, Wolfsonian-FIU, Julia Child Foundation, CLIR Mellon, FLAS, AAUW, NWSA, and AFS have supported Garvin’s research at over thirty international archives, libraries, and museums.

ITAL 150 Modern Italian History through Food                                                                                      

ITAL 152 Feminist Lens: Italian and French Women in Film                                                                 

ITAL 319 Eco-Italy: Introduction to the Environmental Humanities                                                                 

ITAL 350 Global Histories of Italian Food        

ITAL 399 Cuisine in Italian Art, Music, and Literature (taught in Italian)                                                                    

RL  407/507 Mediterranean Ecocriticism                                                                                

RL 407/507 Fascism and Neo-Fascism                                                                                              

ITAL 491/591 Italy and East Africa (taught in Italian)

ITAL 605 Reading

Ph.D., Romance Studies, 2016 - Cornell University                                                    

A.B., Romance Studies, 2006 - Harvard University

Book

Feeding Fascism: The Politics of Women’s Food Work. University of Toronto Press, Spring 2022.  (Harvard De Bosis Colloquium 2023 selection, Portland Book Festival 2022 selection, Civil Eats 2022 Summer Reading List selection, Winner of the 2021 Jeanne and Aldo Scaglione Publication Award, Honorable Mention for Manuscript in Italian Literary Studies, Modern Language Association.) 

Articles

“Building Pasta’s Empire: Barilla in Italian East Africa.” Modern Italy, 28.2 (2023): 97-126.

“The Pioneer’s Feast: Colonial Menus in Italian East Africa.” Global Food History, 9.2 (2023): 1-30.

"Dollies for the Duce: The Politics of Playtime in Fascist Italy."  Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 27.1 (2022): 1-32.

"Paper Soldiers on the March: Colonial Toys for Imperial Play." Design Issues, 38.3 (2022): 55-70. 

“Reproductive Healthcare from Fascism to Forza Nuova.” Signs, 47.1 (2021): 1-37.  

“Militarizing Monopoly: Game Designs for Wartime.” Design Issues, 37.3 (2021): 33-43. 

“The Italian Coffee Triangle: From Brazilian Colonos to Ethiopian Colonialisti.” Modern Italy (2021): 1-22.  (Commended for the 2022 Sophie Coe Prize, Oxford Cookery Symposium.)

“Fascist Foodways: Ricettari as Propaganda for Grain Production and Sexual Reproduction.” Food and Foodways. 29.2 (2021).

“Riding the Stockcar to Sleep in the Stable: Migrant Agricultural Labor and Songs of Rebellion.” gender/sexuality/Italy. 7 (2021).

“Black Markets: The Production of Fascist Racism in East African Marketplace Newsreels.” Journal of Modern European History (Fall 2020): 1-22.

“Constructing Race through Commercial Space: Merkato Ketema under Fascist Urban Planning.” Journal of Modern Italian Studies. 25.2 (Fall 2020): 118-148. 

“Singing Truth to Power: Melodic Resistance and Bodily Revolt in Italy’s Rice Fields.” Annali d’Italianistica, special edition “Speaking Truth to Power from Medieval to Modern Italy.” Eds. Jo Ann Cavallo and Carlo Lottieri. 34 (2016): 371-398. (Winner of the 2017 Russo and Linkon Award for Best Published Article for Academic Audiences, Working-Class Studies Association.)

“Taylorist Breastfeeding in Rationalist Clinics: Constructing Industrial Motherhood in Fascist Italy.” Critical Inquiry. 41 (2015): 655-674.

Book Chapters

“Cut-Throat: The Battle of Adwa according to Razor Blades.” Forthcoming in The History of Everyday Life Reader: Working with Sources. Eds. Kate Ferris and Huw Halstead. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2024.=

“Imperial Board Games for Future Colonists.” Playing Place: A Cultural History of Board Games.  Ed. Medina Lasansky and Chad Randl. Boston: MIT University Press, 2023.

“Colonie and the Cult of Youth in Fascist Architecture.” Interpreting Urban Spaces in Italian Culture. Eds. Andrea Scapolo and Angela Porcarelli.  Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2023.

“Interracial Wetnursing in Italian East Africa.” The Routledge Companion to Sexuality and Colonialism.  Eds. Chelsea Schields and Dagmar Herzog.  New York:  Routedge, 2021.

“Producing Consumers: Gendering Italy through Food Advertisements.” In Representing Italy through Food.  Eds. Peter Naccarato, Ken Albala, and Zachary Nowak.  New York: Bloomsbury, 2016: 143-161. 

“Communicative Blogging for Student Engagement and Blended Literacy.”  In Doing Research to Improve Teaching and Learning: A Guide for College and University Faculty. Ed. Kimberly Williams.  New York: Routledge, 2015: 103-106.

“Autarchic by Design: Aesthetics and Politics of Kitchenware.”  In Food and Material Culture: Proceedings of the 2013 Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery. London: Prospect Books, 2013: 11-19. 

Translations

Antonio Negri, “To the Origins of Biopolitics. A Seminar” (“Alle origini del biopolitico”). In Biopower: Foucault and Beyond.  Eds. Vernon W. Cisney and Nicolae Morar. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016: 48-64.

Roberto Esposito, “The Person and Human Life”  (“Persona e vita umana”). In Theory after “Theory.”   Eds. Derek Attridge and Jane Elliott. Co-trans. Thomas Kelso. New York: Routledge, 2011: 205-219.                                

Travel Guide                 

Let’s Go: Spain and Portugal 2006. Ed. Diana Garvin. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2005.

Popular Press

“Baby Formula Shortages Can Easily Get Swept up in Political Currents.” The Washington Post. Made by History. May 27, 2022.

Podcasts and Radio Interviews

“Feeding Fascism” interview for Yeah Nah Pasaran podcast.  Recorded on February 3, 2023 with Cam Smith and Shane Burley.

“Food and Populism” interview for Smart Mouth podcast.  Recorded on January 16, 2023 with Katherine Spiers.

“Culinary Nationalism” interview for Talk of the Town, WADC 1540 AM, Newport RI.  Recorded on October 19, 2022 with Bruce Newbury.

“Farming under Fascism” interview for F15teen Minutes of Fascism podcast, “Fascism and the Environment” series.  Recorded on June 22, 2022 with Craig Johnson.

“The Queen of Chocolate” interview for What’sHerName podcast. Recorded on June 21, 2022 with Olivia Nelson.

“Feeding Fascism” interview for 55 Voices for Democracy podcast. Recorded on May 18, 2022 with Tom Zoellner and Aida Baghernehad.

“When You’re Good to Mama: Feeding Mothers under Fascism,” Mother’s Day lecture for Chicago Culinary Historians in Chicago, IL (May). (Winner of The Syllabus’ May 24, 2022 Podcast of the Week). 

“Feeding Fascism” interview for A Taste of the Past podcast. Recorded on May 12, 2022 with Linda Pelaccio.

“Luisa Spagnoli” interview for Herstory on the Rocks podcast. Recorded on April 28, 2022 with Allie and Katie Greenwood.

“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Archive” interview with Women of Herstory podcast.  Recorded on April 5, 2022 with Heather Ashley.

“Feeding Fascism” interview for New Books in History podcast. Recorded on April 1, 2022 with Nathan Edwin Hopson.

“A Meal Fit for a Colonist” and “Fascism Fell while Rice Grew” interviews for Delicious History podcast. Recorded on March 16, 2022 with Dave Militello.

“The Transnational History of Italian Coffee,” interview for Eat This Podcast, “Coffee” series. Recorded on June 16, 2021 with Jeremy Cherfas.       

“What Protectors of Democracy Can Learn from the History of Italian Fascism,” interview for Morning Edition and All Things Considered on Oregon Public Radio, National Public Radio.  Recorded on November 9, 2020 with Jenn Chávez.  

“Food, Fascism, and Language,” interview for Curious: Where Research Meets Radio on Jefferson Public Radio Exchange, National Public Radio. Recorded on February 10, 2020 with Geoffrey Riley.

“Fascist and Neo-Fascist Oppression of Women,” interview for Treyf: A Debatably Jewish Podcast, “Fascism and the Far-Right” series.  Recorded on September 8, 2019 by Sam Bick and David Zinman.

Media Mentions

“Holiday traditions aren’t all cheery.  Some are weird or a bit scary.” Interview for The Washington Post, “KidsPost” section. Published on December 20, 2022 by Gina Rich. 

“La soberanía alimentaria según Giorgia Meloni: retórica y proteccionismo,” La Vanguardia, “Comer” section.  Published on December 8, 2022 by Rosa Molinero Trias.

“In the Dolomites, South Tyrol is a Pleasure Worth Exploring.” Interview for The Washington Post, “Travel” section. Published on August 11, 2022 by Gina Rich.  

“Baby Formula Shortages Can Easily Get Swept up in Political Currents.” The Washington Post. Made by History. May 27, 2022.

“A decadência dos EUA, da economia aos costumes.” Interview for Carta Capital.  Published on May 25, 2022 by Clarissa Carvalhaes.

“Author Interview: Feeding Fascism,” Nursing Clio.  Published on May 24, 2022 by Emily Contois.

“Rehearsing for Rebellion: On ‘Bella Ciao’ and Italy’s Radical Rice Weeders,” Lapham’s Quarterly.  Published on June 3, 2020 by Alessandra Bergamin.

“Caffè corretto,” interview for Punch magazine, “Coffee” column.  Published on October 26, 2018 by Katie Parla.    

 “Barley Coffee: It’s Just as Good as it Sounds,” interview for Saveur magazine, “Drink” column.  Published on January 19, 2018 by Prathap Nair.   

(Selected; for full list please see CV)

Harvard University, Herbaria Travel Grant, 2023

Harvard University, Weatherhead Scholars Program (Honor Declined), 2022

APS Franklin Research Grant, 2022

Fulbright Global Scholar Award, 2021

Getty Research Library Grant, 2020

UO Presidential Fellow in Humanistic Studies, 2019-2020

Rome Prize in Modern Italian Studies, American Academy of Rome, 2017-2018

Columbia University Postdoctoral Fellowship, Italian Academy (Honor Declined), 2017

Wolfsonian-FIU Research Fellowship, 2016

CLIR Mellon Research Fellowship, 2015 – 2016 

AAUW American Fellowship (Honor Declined), 2015

Julia Child Foundation Scholarship, 2014

Oxford University Cherwell Studentship, 2013

AFS Sue Samuelson Foodways Award, 2013

FLAS Fellowship, 2011