Kathryn Sampeck

British Library Eccles Centre Scholar Award - American Studies

Kathryn Sampeck is a Professor of Anthropology at Illinois State University, an Associate with the DuBois Research Institute at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University, and a Board Member of the Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute. A special focus of her research is the cultural history of chocolate. A Fulbright-Hays and CIES Fulbright supported her archaeological fieldwork and archival research in El Salvador, a centre of cacao and chocolate production. Her 2021-2022 Fulbright at the Eccles Centre will explore relationships of race and food for her book, Chocolate and Vanilla: Dialogues of Race. The book will assess how a chocolate and vanilla network knit together dynamics of labour, cuisine, and social meaning across Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean. She looks forward to exploring the sights, sounds, and tastes of the UK and learning from the many innovative chocolatiers and chefs of colour in and around London.