Diana Garvin

Diana Garvin is Assistant Professor of Italian with a focus on Mediterranean Studies at the University of Oregon. In her teaching, she uses food to explain Italian history in the world.  Lectures explore topics like the birth of Neapolitan pizza, Futurist food, and the G-8 pesto debate.  Diana conducted her postdoctoral research at the American Academy in Rome. She received her PhD from Cornell University, and her AB from Harvard University. Her research has been supported by Fulbright, Getty Library, Oxford University, Wolfsonian-FIU, Julia Child Foundation, CLIR Mellon, FLAS, AAUW, NWSA, AFS, APS, and other fellowships. 

As a culinary historian, Diana writes and comments on the politics of food for publications like The Washington Post, Punch, and Saveur, and speaks on podcasts like Los Angeles Review of Books’ “55 Voices for Democracy” and Heritage Radio Network’s “A Taste of the Past.”  Her book Feeding Fascism: The Politics of Women’s Food Work was a Civil Eats Summer 2022 Reading list selection, and a Modern Language Association award-winner.  She has also published a travel guide, Let’s Go: Spain and Portugal. 

Diana’s favorite Italian proverb is “O mangi questa minestra o salti dalla finestra,” “Eat this soup or jump out the window.”