Danille Elise Christensen joins religion and culture faculty
Danille Elise Christensen has been appointed an assistant professor in the Department of Religion and Culture at Virginia Tech’s College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.
Christensen is one of 16 new faculty members this fall at the college. This year’s hires enhance existing program strengths and increase the college’s national profile across the arts, humanities, and human and social sciences.
“Faculty excellence is at the heart of Virginia Tech’s ability to succeed,” Dean Elizabeth Spiller said. "I am very pleased to welcome such a gifted and transformative group of scholars, artists, and teachers to the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences."
Christensen’s research focuses on the intersections of vernacular traditional practice, ideology, and popular culture in the United States. Her current work centers on the cultural politics of foodways, including gardening and foraging. Her forthcoming book, “Freedom from Want: Home Canning in the American Imagination,” investigates the promotion and practice of home canning in the United States over the past century.
Trained in the academic study of folklore, she has published articles in the Journal of American Folklore, Journal of Folklore Research, Museum Anthropology Review, and Southern Cultures. She will teach Introduction to American Studies and Appalachian Folk Cultures in the fall and spend spring 2016 completing a residential Kluge Fellowship at the Library of Congress.
Christensen holds a Ph.D. and a master degree from Indiana University and a bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University.
