Mackensie Griffin is a Brooklyn-based researcher and writer with a longstanding interest in the social history of the Western-style dining table and the material culture of dining. She has written on this subject for Gastronomica, NPR, and Slate. Before studying at Bard Graduate Center, she received her undergraduate degree in French literature from Bard College and a master’s degree in food studies from New York University. She has contributed to exhibitions at Bard Graduate Center Gallery, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, and the Catskills Borscht Belt Museum.

Qualifying Paper: A Seat at the Table: The Dining Table in Black Art & Design, 1850–2022