Sarah G. Grant joined the campus in the fall as an assistant professor of anthropology. She earned her doctorate in anthropology at the University of California, Riverside, and has taught related courses at UC Riverside, Hendrix College and Chaffey Community College. She has lectured at area universities about her research on the Vietnamese coffee industry.
Why did you pursue the opportunity to join the Titan community?
Aside from a most welcoming department and college (Humanities and Social Sciences) and the incredibly diverse and creative student body, I felt inspired to produce good, progressive scholarship from my first day on campus. So many exciting things are happening at Fullerton and it just so happens that they map onto my scholarly and teaching ambitions. The burgeoning Vietnamese Studies Program is of particular interest to me.
What do you most look forward to now that you’re here?
I most look forward to developing meaningful relationships with students (and mentees), interdisciplinary colleagues and my department. I also look forward to sharing my coffee research with a wider campus community and future opportunities to lead study abroad programs in Vietnam. Oh, and exploring the Fullerton Arboretum.
What areas of continued scholarship and research are of particular interest to you?
I am very excited to continue my research on the Vietnamese coffee industry and further delve into the cultural-economic logic of risk and uncertainty in large scale commodity trading as I finish my book manuscript. I am also interested in the anthropology of food and consumption — the neighboring Vietnamese-American community will undoubtedly play a role in my future projects. The Faculty Development Center has already fostered an incredible sense of community and collegiality just two months into my first semester.
What are some of your outside activities, hobbies or interests?
Like any good anthropologist I am always interested in travel. In fact, a global coffee tour with definite stops in Ethiopia, Yemen, Panama and Brazil is at the top of my bucket list. And anything related to water — swimming (pool and open water), stand-up paddleboarding, fly fishing in northern New Mexico.