Dr. Craig S. Pascoe is Professor Emeritus of History at Georgia College in Milledgeville, Georgia. His areas of research are the modern American South, United States modern cultural history, and foodways-the study of history and culture through the lens of food. He is the program coordinator for Georgia College's Global Foodways Studies program and teaches courses like Southern Foodways and Traditions. He is also the Program Director for Understanding Mediterranean History and Culture through Foodways, an annual Summer Study Abroad Program to Italy and Greece. He was the Conceptual Design Creator for the Barbecue Nation exhibit at the Atlanta History Center (May 2018-October 2019). He has consulted for television series like Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s American Roadtrip and Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Foods. He is a certified BBQ judge for Memphis Barbecue Network and Kansas City Barbecue Society. In his previous career he worked in the restaurant business for 14 years in places like New Orleans, Kona, Hawaii, Hilton Head Island, and at a resort in the North Carolina mountains. He served in different rolls like wine steward, maître’ d, owner, chef, and Food and Beverage manager. Combining his academic interests with his love for food he has created the perfect job for himself.
Dr. James “Trae” Welborn is Assistant Professor of History at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, Georgia. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, reared in Fernandina Beach, Florida, and educated at Clemson University (BA 2005, MA 2007) and the University of Georgia (PhD 2014), Dr. Welborn specializes in American cultural history, with an emphasis on the emotional dimensions of evolving conceptions of virtue, vice, and the role of violence in shaping these cultural values during the American Civil War Era. His initial foray into the history of southern foodways centered on the contentious role of alcohol within the region’s cultural values and social conventions, especially those associated with issues of race, class, gender, and religion. Such explorations led to further investigation of the profound role of foodways in shaping individual and collective identities in the region and augmented a longstanding personal interest in and appreciation for his native South’s barbecue culture. This interest in the diverse and dynamic cultural history of barbecue in the South sparked the professional collaboration with Dr. Craig Pascoe on www.georgiabbqtrails.com.
