FACULTY PROFILES

Meredith E. Abarca

Professor
English

Office Building: Hudspeth Hall
Office Room: 307
Phone: (915) 747-6249
Email: mabarca@utep.edu

Bio

No info available.

Awards and Honors

Departmental Teaching Award - The Department of English at the University of Texas at El Paso (05/08/2025)
Frances Spatz Leighton Endowed Distinguished Professor in English - College of Liberal Arts (02/01/2025-02/28/2025)
2021 Outreach Award - The Texas Digital Library (05/15/2021)

Education

Ph D in Comparative Literature, The University of California, Davis (2000)

Publications

El Paso Food Voices Podcast University of Texas at El Paso (2025), Meredith E. Abarca.
Buen Provecho: Mestizo Palates University of Texas Press (2025), Meredith E. Abarca.
Foodscapes of El Paso, Texas Padlet.com (2025), Meredith E. Abarca.
The Journey of Menudo: From Story to History (2025), Meredith E. Abarca.
"Decentering Food Pedagogies: Notes from our Gastrofeminist Classrooms" Gastronomica 24 3 (2024), Meredith E. Abarca, .
Abuelita's Kitchen: Stories from the Borderlands (El Paso episode) (2024), Meredith E. Abarca.
"Buen Provesho: Mestizo Palate" (Foreword) University of Texas Press (in press), Meredith E. Abarca.
Abeulita's Kitchen: Stories from the Borderlands (El Paso Episode) (in press), Meredith E. Abarca.
El Paso Food Voices Podcast University of Texas at El Paso (2024), Meredith E. Abarca.
Food Consciousness: A Food-Centered Theory MLA Publications (in press), Meredith E. Abarca.
Abuela's Kitchen: Stories from the Borderlands. (El Paso Episode) (in press), Meredith E. Abarca.
Charlas Culinarias (Culinary Chats): A Methodology and Pedagogy Expending a Food Consciousness Food, Culture, & Society (2023), Meredith E. Abarca.
El Paso Food Voices National Humanities Alliance .ORG (2023), Meredith E. Abarca.
Book Review The Journal of Southern History 89 3 (2023), Meredith E. Abarca.
"Sameness in Diversity" by Jayasanker (Book Review) The American Historical Review (Oxford UP) 128 2 (2023), Meredith E. Abarca.
El Paso Food Voices, open source digital archive (Public Facing Scholarship) University of Texas at El Paso (2023), Meredith E. Abarca.
Food Industry Oxford Press (2021), Meredith E. Abarca, Joshua I. Lopez.
Commensality: Networks of Personal, Family, and Community Social Transformation" The Sociological Review 69 3 (2021), Meredith E. Abarca.
"Bill Parks Bar-B-Q: Southern Food with A Taste of the Southwest" The History Press (2021), Meredith E. Abarca.

Presentations

The Virtual Border Project: Gathering Traditions, Building Communities (2026), Volume Zoom delivery due to fight cancelation , Meredith E. Abarca.
Digital Technologies to Gather, Preserve, and Share Food Stories: Culinary Memories and Practices as Narrative from the Ground-Up (2025), Volume Roubaix, France , Meredith E. Abarca.
Food Stories from the Borderlands and Why They Matter (2025), Volume Paris, France , Meredith E. Abarca.
Abuelita's Kitchen: Stories from the Borderland (2025), Volume El Paso Mexican American Cultural Center , Meredith E. Abarca.
The Food of El Paso (2025), Volume UTEP's Ruben Center , Meredith E. Abarca.
Chair Panel (2025), Volume Forth Worth, Texas , Meredith E. Abarca.
Abuelita's Kitchen: Stories from the Borderland (2024), Volume Presidio Hall, San Elizario, Texas , Meredith E. Abarca.
El Paso episode: Abuelita's Kitchen: Stories from the Borderland (2024), Volume The Undergraduate Learning Center at UTEP , Meredith E. Abarca.
El Paso Food Voices as Culinary Kinship (2024), Volume Las Cruses, New Mexico, Meredith E. Abarca.
"La Llorona: Tales of the Weeping Woman" (2024), Meredith E. Abarca.
Women, Food, Culture (2024), Volume London, England (zoom), Meredith E. Abarca.
Film: Abuela's Kitchen: Mexican Food Stories (El Paso's episode) (2024), Volume Syracuse, New York , Meredith E. Abarca.
Interview for an episode on "The Burrito Story" (2024), Meredith E. Abarca.
Your Voice, Your Story: Back-Yard Food History as Acts of Social Justice (2024), Volume Virtual /Zoom, Meredith E. Abarca.
Chicanx/Latinx Food Studies: Critical Ruptures in the Filed (2024), Volume San Francisco, Ca, Meredith E. Abarca.
Presidential Address: "The Beauty and Pain of a Place Call Home" (2024), Volume San Antonio, Texas, Meredith E. Abarca.
El Paso Food Voices: Maintaining Intimate Culinary Heritage (2023), Volume Davis, California , Meredith E. Abarca.
El Paso's Culinary Heritage (2023), Volume Blumberg (UTEP's Library) , Meredith E. Abarca.
Critical Feminist Food Studies: Reflections on Feminist Food Studies, "Messiness, and Interventions (2023), Volume Boston , Meredith E. Abarca.
El Paso Food Voices: A City's Story Lived through Food (2023), Volume Boston , Meredith E. Abarca.
Students’ Food Voice: Democratizing Knowledge (2023), Volume Boston , Meredith E. Abarca.
"El Paso Food Voices: Preserving Folklore through Food Stories" (2023), Volume Waco, Texas , Meredith E. Abarca.
El Paso Food Voices: Past, Present and Future (2023), Volume El Paso Texas, Meredith E. Abarca.
Mexican Grandmothers’ Food Stories: Tradition in Times of Change (2022), Volume Los Angeles California , Meredith E. Abarca.
El Paso Food Voices: A City’s Story Lived through Food (2022), Volume University of Texas, El Paso , Meredith E. Abarca.
El Paso Food Voices: Gathering Food Stories from El Paso, Texas (2022), Volume El Paso, Texas , Meredith E. Abarca.
Writing Our Food Stories (2022), Volume Claremont, California , Meredith E. Abarca.
El Paso Food Voices: Technologies Connecting Communities (2022), Volume El Paso, Texas , Meredith E. Abarca.
Food Stories and Digital Humanities: El Paso Food Voices Open Source Archive (2022), Volume Los Angeles, California , Meredith E. Abarca.
"Food Voices: Embodied Collective Stories, Practices, and Memories" (2021), Volume Virtual due to Covid-19, Meredith E. Abarca, Joshua Lopez.
"From Food Desert to Food From the Desert" (2021), Volume Virtual due to Covid-19, Meredith E. Abarca.
"Regional Food Stories, Digital Technologies, Global Communities" (2021), Volume Georgia College , Meredith E. Abarca.
Folklore in Food Memories: El Paso Food Voices (2021), Volume Virtual conference due to Covid-19, Meredith E. Abarca.
El Paso Food Voices video collection (2021), Volume Zoom meeting , Meredith E. Abarca.

Grants

Voces de las Abuelas: Grandmothers’ Food Stories from the Borderlands. (10/01/2022 - 08/30/2024) - University of Souther California
Las voces de las abuelas (01/01/2021 - 08/31/2022) - University of Southern California
El Paso Food Voices: Gathering Food Stories From El Paso's LGBTQ+ Community (05/15/2022 - 08/30/2022) - University of Texas at El Paso

Current/Future Courses

Term	Course	Section	Syllabus
Spring 2026	ENGL 3300 - Intro. to Literary Studies	24349	Syllabus
Spring 2026	ENGL 5323 - Multi-Cult Lit: Theory & Pract	27638

Past Courses

Select Term:

Term	Course	Section	Syllabus
Fall 2025	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	12912	Syllabus
Fall 2025	ENGL 3374 - Folklore Of Mexican American	17421	Syllabus
Spring 2025	ENGL 5320 - Critical Theory and Practice	27441	Syllabus
Spring 2025	ENGL 3300 - Intro. to Literary Studies	24914	Syllabus
Fall 2024	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	13239	Syllabus
Fall 2024	ENGL 3360 - Women in Literature	16811	Syllabus
Summer 2024	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	33933
Spring 2024	RWS 6130 - Graduate Seminar in Rhetoric	25934
Spring 2024	ENGL 3300 - Intro. to Literary Studies	25792	Syllabus
Fall 2023	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	13807	Syllabus
Fall 2023	RWS 6130 - Graduate Seminar in Rhetoric	13506
Fall 2023	ENGL 5322 - Literature and Culture	16381
Fall 2023	ENGL 6322 - Literature and Culture	17174
Fall 2023	ENGL 5392 - Master of Arts Research Paper	11016
Spring 2023	ENGL 5390 - Directed Studies	21111
Spring 2023	ENGL 2313 - Intro to American Fiction	20510	Syllabus
Spring 2023	ENGL 3300 - Intro. to Literary Studies	27274	Syllabus
Spring 2023	ENGL 5392 - Master of Arts Research Paper	21417
Fall 2022	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	17343
Fall 2022	ENGL 5390 - Directed Studies	11597
Fall 2022	ENGL 3374 - Folklore Of Mexican American	19048
Summer 2022	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	33580
Spring 2022	ENGL 5320 - Critical Theory and Practice	21382
Spring 2022	ENGL 2313 - Intro to American Fiction	24231
Fall 2021	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	17224
Fall 2021	ENGL 3302 - Literature and Film	18574
Summer 2021	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	33550
Summer 2021	ENGL 3360 - Women in Literature	36397
Summer 2021	WS 3360 - Women in Literature	33283
Spring 2021	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	28909
Spring 2021	ENGL 2313 - Intro to American Fiction	24586
Spring 2021	ENGL 5323 - Multi-Cult Lit: Theory & Pract	28378
Fall 2020	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	17555
Fall 2020	ENGL 3374 - Folklore Of Mexican American	18901
Summer 2020	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	36129
Spring 2020	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	25107
Spring 2020	ENGL 2313 - Intro to American Fiction	25110
Spring 2020	ENGL 3300 - Intro. to Literary Studies	20865
Fall 2019	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	18604
Fall 2019	ENGL 5323 - Multi-Cult Lit: Theory & Pract	18369
Summer 2019	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	34091
Summer 2019	WS 3360 - Women in Literature	33761
Spring 2019	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	25471
Spring 2019	ENGL 2313 - Intro to American Fiction	25474

Course Evaluations

Term	Course	Section	Evaluation
Fall 2025	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	12912	Evaluation
Fall 2025	ENGL 3374 - Folklore Of Mexican American	17421	Evaluation
Spring 2025	ENGL 5320 - Critical Theory and Practice	27441	Evaluation
Spring 2025	ENGL 3300 - Intro. to Literary Studies	24914	Evaluation
Fall 2024	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	13239	Evaluation
Fall 2024	ENGL 3360 - Women in Literature	16811	Evaluation
Summer 2024	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	33933	Evaluation
Spring 2024	RWS 6130 - Graduate Seminar in Rhetoric	25934	Evaluation
Spring 2024	ENGL 3300 - Intro. to Literary Studies	25792	Evaluation
Fall 2023	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	13807	Evaluation
Fall 2023	RWS 6130 - Graduate Seminar in Rhetoric	13506	Evaluation
Fall 2023	ENGL 5322 - Literature and Culture	16381	Evaluation
Fall 2023	ENGL 6322 - Literature and Culture	17174	Evaluation
Spring 2023	ENGL 2313 - Intro to American Fiction	20510	Evaluation
Spring 2023	ENGL 3300 - Intro. to Literary Studies	27274	Evaluation
Fall 2022	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	17343	Evaluation
Fall 2022	ENGL 3374 - Folklore Of Mexican American	19048	Evaluation
Summer 2022	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	33580	Evaluation
Spring 2022	ENGL 5320 - Critical Theory and Practice	21382	Evaluation
Spring 2022	ENGL 2313 - Intro to American Fiction	24231	Evaluation
Fall 2021	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	17224	Evaluation
Fall 2021	ENGL 3302 - Literature and Film	18574	Evaluation
Summer 2021	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	33550	Evaluation
Summer 2021	WS 3360 - Women in Literature	33283	Evaluation
Spring 2021	ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature	28909	Evaluation
Spring 2021	ENGL 2313 - Intro to American Fiction	24586	Evaluation

Bio

No info available.

Awards and Honors

Departmental Teaching Award - The Department of English at the University of Texas at El Paso (05/08/2025)
Frances Spatz Leighton Endowed Distinguished Professor in English - College of Liberal Arts (02/01/2025-02/28/2025)
2021 Outreach Award - The Texas Digital Library (05/15/2021)

Ph D in Comparative Literature, The University of California, Davis (2000)

Publications

El Paso Food Voices Podcast University of Texas at El Paso (2025), Meredith E. Abarca.
Buen Provecho: Mestizo Palates University of Texas Press (2025), Meredith E. Abarca.
Foodscapes of El Paso, Texas Padlet.com (2025), Meredith E. Abarca.
The Journey of Menudo: From Story to History (2025), Meredith E. Abarca.
"Decentering Food Pedagogies: Notes from our Gastrofeminist Classrooms" Gastronomica 24 3 (2024), Meredith E. Abarca, .

Presentations

The Virtual Border Project: Gathering Traditions, Building Communities (2026), Volume Zoom delivery due to fight cancelation , Meredith E. Abarca.
Digital Technologies to Gather, Preserve, and Share Food Stories: Culinary Memories and Practices as Narrative from the Ground-Up (2025), Volume Roubaix, France , Meredith E. Abarca.
Food Stories from the Borderlands and Why They Matter (2025), Volume Paris, France , Meredith E. Abarca.
Abuelita's Kitchen: Stories from the Borderland (2025), Volume El Paso Mexican American Cultural Center , Meredith E. Abarca.
The Food of El Paso (2025), Volume UTEP's Ruben Center , Meredith E. Abarca.

Voces de las Abuelas: Grandmothers’ Food Stories from the Borderlands. (10/01/2022 - 08/30/2024) University of Souther California
Las voces de las abuelas (01/01/2021 - 08/31/2022) University of Southern California
El Paso Food Voices: Gathering Food Stories From El Paso's LGBTQ+ Community (05/15/2022 - 08/30/2022) University of Texas at El Paso

Current/Future Courses

Term

Spring 2026

Course

ENGL 3300 - Intro. to Literary Studies

Section

24349

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2026

Course

ENGL 5323 - Multi-Cult Lit: Theory & Pract

Section

27638

Syllabus

Past Courses

Select Term:

Term

Fall 2025

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

12912

Syllabus

Term

Fall 2025

Course

ENGL 3374 - Folklore Of Mexican American

Section

17421

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2025

Course

ENGL 5320 - Critical Theory and Practice

Section

27441

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2025

Course

ENGL 3300 - Intro. to Literary Studies

Section

24914

Syllabus

Term

Fall 2024

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

13239

Syllabus

Term

Fall 2024

Course

ENGL 3360 - Women in Literature

Section

16811

Syllabus

Term

Summer 2024

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

33933

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2024

Course

RWS 6130 - Graduate Seminar in Rhetoric

Section

25934

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2024

Course

ENGL 3300 - Intro. to Literary Studies

Section

25792

Syllabus

Term

Fall 2023

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

13807

Syllabus

Term

Fall 2023

Course

RWS 6130 - Graduate Seminar in Rhetoric

Section

13506

Syllabus

Term

Fall 2023

Course

ENGL 5322 - Literature and Culture

Section

16381

Syllabus

Term

Fall 2023

Course

ENGL 6322 - Literature and Culture

Section

17174

Syllabus

Term

Fall 2023

Course

ENGL 5392 - Master of Arts Research Paper

Section

11016

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2023

Course

ENGL 5390 - Directed Studies

Section

21111

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2023

Course

ENGL 2313 - Intro to American Fiction

Section

20510

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2023

Course

ENGL 3300 - Intro. to Literary Studies

Section

27274

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2023

Course

ENGL 5392 - Master of Arts Research Paper

Section

21417

Syllabus

Term

Fall 2022

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

17343

Syllabus

Term

Fall 2022

Course

ENGL 5390 - Directed Studies

Section

11597

Syllabus

Term

Fall 2022

Course

ENGL 3374 - Folklore Of Mexican American

Section

19048

Syllabus

Term

Summer 2022

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

33580

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2022

Course

ENGL 5320 - Critical Theory and Practice

Section

21382

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2022

Course

ENGL 2313 - Intro to American Fiction

Section

24231

Syllabus

Term

Fall 2021

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

17224

Syllabus

Term

Fall 2021

Course

ENGL 3302 - Literature and Film

Section

18574

Syllabus

Term

Summer 2021

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

33550

Syllabus

Term

Summer 2021

Course

ENGL 3360 - Women in Literature

Section

36397

Syllabus

Term

Summer 2021

Course

WS 3360 - Women in Literature

Section

33283

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2021

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

28909

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2021

Course

ENGL 2313 - Intro to American Fiction

Section

24586

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2021

Course

ENGL 5323 - Multi-Cult Lit: Theory & Pract

Section

28378

Syllabus

Term

Fall 2020

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

17555

Syllabus

Term

Fall 2020

Course

ENGL 3374 - Folklore Of Mexican American

Section

18901

Syllabus

Term

Summer 2020

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

36129

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2020

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

25107

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2020

Course

ENGL 2313 - Intro to American Fiction

Section

25110

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2020

Course

ENGL 3300 - Intro. to Literary Studies

Section

20865

Syllabus

Term

Fall 2019

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

18604

Syllabus

Term

Fall 2019

Course

ENGL 5323 - Multi-Cult Lit: Theory & Pract

Section

18369

Syllabus

Term

Summer 2019

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

34091

Syllabus

Term

Summer 2019

Course

WS 3360 - Women in Literature

Section

33761

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2019

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

25471

Syllabus

Term

Spring 2019

Course

ENGL 2313 - Intro to American Fiction

Section

25474

Syllabus

Term

Fall 2025

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

12912

Evaluation

Term

Fall 2025

Course

ENGL 3374 - Folklore Of Mexican American

Section

17421

Evaluation

Term

Spring 2025

Course

ENGL 5320 - Critical Theory and Practice

Section

27441

Evaluation

Term

Spring 2025

Course

ENGL 3300 - Intro. to Literary Studies

Section

24914

Evaluation

Term

Fall 2024

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

13239

Evaluation

Term

Fall 2024

Course

ENGL 3360 - Women in Literature

Section

16811

Evaluation

Term

Summer 2024

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

33933

Evaluation

Term

Spring 2024

Course

RWS 6130 - Graduate Seminar in Rhetoric

Section

25934

Evaluation

Term

Spring 2024

Course

ENGL 3300 - Intro. to Literary Studies

Section

25792

Evaluation

Term

Fall 2023

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

13807

Evaluation

Term

Fall 2023

Course

RWS 6130 - Graduate Seminar in Rhetoric

Section

13506

Evaluation

Term

Fall 2023

Course

ENGL 5322 - Literature and Culture

Section

16381

Evaluation

Term

Fall 2023

Course

ENGL 6322 - Literature and Culture

Section

17174

Evaluation

Term

Spring 2023

Course

ENGL 2313 - Intro to American Fiction

Section

20510

Evaluation

Term

Spring 2023

Course

ENGL 3300 - Intro. to Literary Studies

Section

27274

Evaluation

Term

Fall 2022

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

17343

Evaluation

Term

Fall 2022

Course

ENGL 3374 - Folklore Of Mexican American

Section

19048

Evaluation

Term

Summer 2022

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

33580

Evaluation

Term

Spring 2022

Course

ENGL 5320 - Critical Theory and Practice

Section

21382

Evaluation

Term

Spring 2022

Course

ENGL 2313 - Intro to American Fiction

Section

24231

Evaluation

Term

Fall 2021

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

17224

Evaluation

Term

Fall 2021

Course

ENGL 3302 - Literature and Film

Section

18574

Evaluation

Term

Summer 2021

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

33550

Evaluation

Term

Summer 2021

Course

WS 3360 - Women in Literature

Section

33283

Evaluation

Term

Spring 2021

Course

ENGL 3310 - Chicana/o Literature

Section

28909

Evaluation

Term

Spring 2021

Course

ENGL 2313 - Intro to American Fiction

Section

24586

Evaluation

Meredith E. Abarca

Bio

Education

Scholarly and Creative Activity

Grants

Courses

Course Evaluations