Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Ben Poole is a specialist in the history of twentieth-century Europe, global history, food history, and popular culture. His current research explores the construction of identities in the global age through representations and discussions of food in contemporary popular media, focusing on France. It examines representations of “French” foods alongside those deemed “foreign,” revealing a complex interplay of economic, political, and social interests and power relations not only within France but in transnational and global contexts as well. This work reminds us that what makes foods such seemingly uncomplicated national symbols also makes them some of the most valuable, portable, and contested as well. 

Dr. Poole brings this global approach and interest in popular culture to the classroom, with courses on modern Europe, social and cultural history, the history of food, and the history of racism and nationalism. Throughout all his teaching, he strives to empower students to understand history not as a series of events but as a skill of analyzing, interpreting, and narrating the past. In his role as Graduate Teaching Coordinator, he works with graduate students and graduate instructors to cultivate their own approaches to history, academia, and teaching.