Comidas Del Alma: Food, Community and History at Regis University

As autumn graces campus, gratitude abounds in the season of harvest. Food-sharing traditions are infused throughout the variety of cultural backgrounds that make up the diverse Regis community. With the essence of gratitude and the spirit of cultural exchange in mind, two professors are inspiring Regis students, faculty, staff and community to gather with their families, friends and fellow classmates to celebrate one another by sharing culture and identity through food.

IC420: Memory, History, and Food, taught by assistant professor of communication Camilo Perez, Ph.D., and assistant professor of history Heider Tun Tun, Ph.D., invites students to participate in community education through learning about, preparing and serving dishes. As part of the course, the Comidas Del Alma – translated to “soul food” – event series opens its educational opportunities to the broader Regis community.

On Sept. 16, the students collaborated with Ranger Dining provider Harvest Table to present a hands-on cooking and tasting workshop outside of Regis’ Student Center. For the workshop, students prepared various styles of arepas, a South American corn flatbread made with various fillings relevant to different South American traditions, and invited attendees to learn how to make their own. For Perez, the integration of the physicality of cooking with the introspection of education creates a wholly unique learning experience.

“There are a lot of things that go into the preparation of food. It involves listening to the stories behind the ingredients, behind the recipes, and thinking of it as an embodied practice. Not only are you here with your mind, but also with your body.” Perez continued, “But most of all, you cook food to share with someone. And in that sense, we think about the possibility of being together and sharing our flavors with others.”

Before students have the opportunity to cook, however, they first spend time learning about the origins of food, from seed to plant to fruit. Approaching food from an environmental, and often indigenous, lens, the course reflects Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ initiative and the Regis mission for students to be rooted in mission and rising with purpose.

“Food is actually an excuse to talk about different things, but also it enables us to connect with our Jesuit principles in the sense of caring for the whole person,” said Perez. “Bridging the mind and heart enables us to think on care for the community and on our common home.

As part of the course, students share a family recipe with their classmates and community as part of the Comida Del Alma/Soul Food(s) cookbook project. The cookbook features recipes gathered by professors Perez and Tun Tun from the Regis community, with respective personal stories reflecting family, migration, history and justice.

But why focus on “soul food?” As an Integrated Core course, students of all educational interests attend the class, creating a unique cross-disciplinary learning experience. The intellectual and cultural diversity of the students quite literally brings unique perspectives to the table.

MJ Pettit, a junior studying psychology who is taking the course, described her own definition of “soul food” as “the manifestation of an individual’s culture.”

“Food is like the physical embodiment of culture.” Pettit continued, “Something you can interact with, you can eat, you can share with other people and it really feels like who you are and what you belong to.”

In the spirit of social justice and belonging, the course encourages the students to dig deep and share the culinary aspects of their cultural identities. In many cases, the cultures that these students represent have been historically ignored or intentionally obscured through systemic oppression. Opening the door to cultural exchange in this capacity is, according to professor Tun Tun, a moment to rectify the past.

“This class is giving you the ability to participate in history, perhaps for the very first time in your family,” said Tun Tun. "Everybody cooks and everybody eats, so therefore you have a history.”

Throughout the rest of the fall, the Regis community is invited to attend upcoming community-focused Comidas Del Alma events featuring academic speakers, food tastings and sharing of memories. Learn more about the upcoming events here.