Overview
My research is centered on critical food studies at the nexus where food justice and immigration meet, with particular linkages to Latin America and the U.S. South. I am a filmmaker, photographer, oral historian, and writer. My projects (both completed and current) address such topics as immigration, farmworkers, the US/Mexico border, the US South and its agricultural history, farm foreclosures, and food access. For more about my work, please see my website: cdthomps.com.
My latest book, Border Odyssey: Travels Along the US/Mexico Divide (Texas, 2015) is an ethnography and memoir about my travel along the 2,000-mile line that marks the division between the two countries. My photographs and recent film work and an interactive map that accompany the book are here: borderodyssey.com
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Publications
Border Odyssey Travels Along the U.S./Mexico Divide
Book · April 15, 2015 But his book Travels with Charley, a tale of his cross-country trip with his dog, is the one that most helped me understand my odyssey. He went on his journey, he said, because he felt distant from this country. Though he had worked as a ... ... CiteGuestworkers: Farmworkers, filmmakers, and their obligations in the field
Chapter · 2013 As fieldworkers-in this case, those who go to communities asking for the favors of interviews, images, and film footage-we often find ourselves caught in a complex web of promises, obligations, and gifts. Receiving the gifts of interviews often requires so ... CiteGuestworkers: Farmworkers, filmmakers, and their obligations in the field
Chapter · January 1, 2013 As fieldworkers-in this case, those who go to communities asking for the favors of interviews, images, and film footage-we often find ourselves caught in a complex web of promises, obligations, and gifts. Receiving the gifts of interviews often requires so ... CiteRecent Grants
Curriculum and Education Director
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation · 2011 - 2012"Brother Town/Pueblos Hermanos", A Documentary
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation · 2008 - 2009Pueblos Hermanos/Brother Towns
Public ServicePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation · 2007 - 2008View All Grants