A Recipe for Literacy: Making Meaning Through Cake

Authors

  • Harrison Campbell Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary
  • Joshua Grieman Southern Alberta Institute of Technology

Keywords:

Literacy, Post-Humanism, Culinary Arts, Cake Artistry

Abstract

Within this article, we explore cake artistry as a means of demonstrating a process of meaning-making (Starratt, 1996). We contend that the cakes themselves are tactile examples of literacy events (Heath, 1982) due to the embodiment and relationality present within their design process (Johnson et al., 2020). This article discusses two unique cakes that explore elements of literacy related to storytelling, personal reflection, and emotional expression. We, the authors, strive to position literacy, as explored through cakes, within a post-humanist perspective and provide an opportunity for authentic engagement and humanized/ing actions with meaning-making (Beucher et al., 2019; Garrett et al., 2019; Perry & Medina, 2015). We hope that this article will encourage our readers to think about literacy differently as well as what it means to be “literate” within different professions.   

Author Biographies

Harrison Campbell, Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary

Harrison Campbell, BE.d, MA: Harrison Campbell is a Doctor of Philosophy student at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary. His area of scholarship explores the use of theatrical phenomenology in understanding secondary student experiences of literacy. His PhD research has been generously funded by The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, through the Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS Doctoral), and The Killam Trusts through the Izaak Walton Killam Doctoral Memorial Scholarship.  

Joshua Grieman , Southern Alberta Institute of Technology

Joshua Grieman, RSE: Joshua Grieman is a Red Seal Endorsed pastry chef and cake artist. He received his diploma in Baking and Pastry Arts (Hons.) from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Since then, he has been working in the culinary industry for the past 12 years working in fine dining establishments, classical French bakery’s, including Viennoiserie, and is now the head pastry chef at Whippt Kitchen in Calgary, Alberta Canada.

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Published

2022-08-15

How to Cite

Campbell, H., & Grieman , J. . (2022). A Recipe for Literacy: Making Meaning Through Cake . Emerging Perspectives: Interdisciplinary Graduate Research in Education and Psychology, 6(1), 22–32. Retrieved from https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/ep/article/view/73388

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Articles