WSU Common Reading Invited Lecture Oct. 15 features author Priya Fielding-Singh

The Washington State University Common Reading Program welcomes Priya Fielding-Singh, author of this year's book, How the Other Half Eats: The Untold Story of Food and Inequality in America, for an invited lecture at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15, at the CUB Senior Ballroom on the WSU Pullman campus, followed by a book-signing. The talk will be streamed live. The event is free and open to the public.

At noon that day, a special question-and-answer session is offered to WSU students system-wide. They must register to receive the Zoom link for the session, and also submit questions beforehand.

"We are delighted to have Dr. Fielding-Singh share her knowledge with our students, faculty, and staff, and the community, and provide insights into what led her to write such a compelling narrative on food inequality in our nation," said Karen Weathermon, director of the program.

As WSU's 17^th Common Reading book, How the Other Half Eats is being used at WSU Pullman, WSU Vancouver, WSU Tri-Cities, and the Global Campus. Professors across many disciplines use the book in first-year and other classes, with topics from it sparking academic discussions in class and at programming beyond classrooms. The book was published in 2021 by Little, Brown Spark.

Fielding-Singh is a sociologist and ethnographer whose work is at the intersection of family, gender, and inequality with a focus on maternal and children health and well-being. She currently serves as a senior manager of research and education at the Sandberg Goldberg Bernthal Family Foundation. She is a nonresident fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and was previously a tenure-track assistant professor at the University of Utah's Department of Family and Consumer Studies.

Her PhD in sociology is from Stanford University and she did postdoctoral training as a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Fellow in cardiovascular disease prevention at the Stanford School of Medicine. Her bachelor's degree in education and social policy is from Northwestern University, and her master's degree in anthropology is from the University of Bremen.

How the Other Half Eats helps readers understand how inequality starts on the dinner plate. Fielding-Singh looks at many families' eating patterns and food access.

For more information and updates, check the Common Reading website and its calendar page.