Professor of Applied Food Studies and Liberal Arts, The Culinary Institute of America (CIA); Hyde Park, NY

Dr. Maureen Costura, PhD is professor of Applied Food Studies and Liberal Arts at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York. Her recent research has focused on the role for archaeology in what UNESCO calls “Futures Literacy”, the concept that the way in which we envision a future for our species, and our planet shapes our responses to current global challenges. She is interested in the disconnect between what archaeology tells us about the cultural transformations of past societies and the ways those transformations are envisioned in popular media and imagination. The utility of this interest lies in our ability to shape modern narratives of the future to better support sustainable, culturally grounded models for resilience. 

Past projects on societal upheaval and site abandonment in the colonial Americas emphasized the place of culturally constructed ideas of food and embodiment in the success or failure of archaeological sites. These projects include the Stone Hill Cemetery project in Pound Ridge, New York and her doctoral work at Cornell University that focused on the site of French Azilum, a town in Pennsylvania built by refugees from the French and Haitian Revolutions that was abandoned after only a few years. 

Dr. Costura teaches numerous courses in the CIA’s School of Food Studies and Liberal Arts and regularly leads student travel to sites of culinary and cultural interest around the world through the college’s Global Cuisines and Cultures program. She is also involved in promoting ties between the Culinary Institute of America and the United Nations Department of Global Communications. 

She has presented at professional conferences including the Society for Historical Archaeology and the Association for the Study of Food and Society, and has published articles in edited volumes on pop culture, food resilience, embodiment and societal upheaval.