Keri Matwick

Background

About Keri Matwick

I am a linguist who researches language and food to understand people and society. I study, research, and write about topics on food, media, and culture, such as cooking shows, cookbooks, culinary diplomacy, and novel foods. I apply my observations of effective communication from the real world into the classroom. I currently teach Academic Writing in the Language and Communication Centre (LCC) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. I am dedicated to helping students develop their writing skills and critical thinking. I am active in research and am exploring various topics, such as culinary tourism in Singapore, politeness and humor in public signs, and food markets as heritage sites. With the recent pandemic, my research is also expanding into food sustainability and security, both national priorities of Singapore. Spring 2018, I was a Fulbright scholar in Honduras where I taught English for Tourism at Universidad Pedagogica Nacional de Francisco Morazan. In addition to teaching, I took a course on Food Hospitality ("Technicas y Procesos de Alimentos y Bebidas II") and became certified in coffee tasting and making. The immersion in the Honduran culture through food and education offered a rich experience with the people and a lasting connection. I received a Ph.D. in Linguistics at the University of Florida (2016). My dissertation examined storytelling and celebrity chefs on Food Network, a topic that has expanded into a full-length manuscript co-authored with my sister (Kelsi): Food Discourse of Celebrity Chefs of Food Network (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019). My passion for language began at the University of Notre Dame where I earned a BA and MA in Spanish. I have studied abroad in Spain, Tokyo, France, and London. I also studied French, art, and history in Paris, and researched language acquisition in Montpellier, France. I have been teaching for the last ten years at the university level: two years of Spanish, one of Linguistics, and seven of Academic Writing and Professional Communication. I have a Foreign Language Teaching Certificate and a Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL) Certificate. I am a United States Air Force veteran and served active duty as a Personnel Officer at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Anchorage, Alaska, 2005-2008. I worked with an F-16 jet squadron and the base personnel center. I was a Reservist until 2015 when I separated as a Captain (O-3). I am available for freelance work to write about food, language, and communication. For my publications, go to->