Speaking of ... College of Charleston

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"Fuel for the Future," tips on healthy eating, sustainable eating and solutions to food insecurity

In honor of National Nutrition Month, this month's episode is all about food; how to eat sustainably, reduce food waste and enjoy delicious local fruits and veggies from our campus farmers market.

The world’s population has grown from 5 billion in 1987 to almost 8 billion today, but our resources can’t keep up. Agriculture and related land-use change account for almost 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In this episode we sit down with Regan Henry, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist for Dining Services at the College of Charleston. Henry shares her wealth of knowledge and offers suggestions on how to adopt healthy and sustainable eating habits.

Featured
Regan Henry is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist. She is a Charleston native and joined the College of Charleston in April 2022 as the Registered Dietitian for Dining Services.

Her interest in sustainable eating began during her college days when she started studying motivators for local food consumption and other sustainable behaviors among college students. And she’s had a passion for working with college students since then.

Students can meet with Regan to talk about anything from their personal health goals, to managing food allergies, dietary restrictions and learning how to plan and prepare meals independently. Regan works with campus chefs to help take the mystery out of healthy eating. Dining Services recognizes and accommodates food allergies, preferences, and special dietary needs in a way that's personalized, sensitive and supportive.

• Registered Dietitian services for meal plan holders include:
• Nutrition consultations
• Dining hall tours
• Food allergy solutions

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your nutritional needs, please contact Regan at [email protected].

Tips for healthy eating:

Fewer animal products, especially red meat, and more fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes.

Consider making small, realistic changes to your diet. Eating plant-forward meals is a way to emphasize healthy plants at the center of the plate. Meat can be added as a flavor enhancer, but in smaller quantities than most of us are used to.

Tips for sustainable eating:

Eat fewer animal-based foods.

Reduce food waste and plan meals ahead of time.

Pick your produce wisely.

Eat local

Tips for food insecurity on campus

The Lowcountry Food Bank, in partnership with the College of Charleston’s Riley Center for Livable Communities and the City of Charleston has an online, interactive Lowcountry Food Finder Map, which helps people in need find free food in Charleston County and beyond.

Cougar Pantry, which provides food to students, no questions asked.

Swipe Away Hunger is a way for students with meal plans to donate unused meal taps to support students facing food insecurity.

Resources

Campus Dish Menus for Liberty Fresh Food Company and City Bistro are housed here, including the vegan/vegetarian/cool foods icons mentioned.
CofC Dining Instagram (Includes communications about wellness events and farmers markets)
Charleston Farmers Market

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Famed American author Edgar Allan Poe, who lived from 1809 to 1849, was a poet, literary critic, short story writer and creator of the modern horror tale. He experienced great tragedy in his life and was notorious for his drinking and dark temperament, which frequently got him into trouble. Poe spent time in the Charleston Lowcountry while serving in the U.S. Army (under an assumed name) he at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island from 1827 to 1828.

As Poe’s 214th birthday approaches on Jan 19, 2023, his enduring popularity in American popular culture only continues to grow. Netflix recently released The Pale Blue Eye (the title comes from Poe’s short story The Tell-Tale Heart). The historical thriller, based on a 2006 novel by Louis Bayard, is set at West Point, where Poe was a cadet before he was court-martialed in 1831. In this fictionalized film, Poe is enlisted by a detective (played by Christian Bale) to help solve a series of grisly murders.

In this podcast episode, Scott Peeples, a Poe scholar, English professor and interim chair of the Department of English, takes us on a tour of some of the Lowcountry landmarks associated with Poe.

Featured on this Episode

During his 26 years at the College of Charleston, Scott Peeples, English professor and interim chair of the English Department, has taught a wide array of courses on topics ranging from Gothicism to nineteenth-century American poetry to Bob Dylan. He has published extensively on Edgar Allan Poe and other nineteenth-century writers, most recently as author of The Man of the Crowd: Edgar Allan Poe and the City and as co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Edgar Allan Poe. Peeples served as chair of the English Department from 2012 to 2017 and is a past president of the Poe Studies Association and the Southeastern American Studies Association.

Resources for this Episode

The Man of the Crowd: Edgar Allan Poe and the City by Scott Peeples
The Afterlife of Edgar Allan Poe by Scott Peeples
Edgar Allan Poe Revisited by Scott Peeples
Edgar Allan Poe’s suburban dream essay by Scott Peeples
Why should you read Edgar Allan Poe? TED-Ed video on YouTube with more than 1.7 million views written by Scott Peeples

The Pale Blue Eye (adapted by the director, Scott Cooper, from Louis Bayard’s 2006 novel of the same name)

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe

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It may not come as a surprise that what we know about Charleston’s history is not necessarily the truth. Many of the stories recorded in the history books were written with biased perspectives, ignoring marginalized voices.
In this episode we talk to author and professional tour guide Leigh Handal '81 who says the true history of Charleston, SC doesn't need embellishment. Gathering evidence from trial transcripts and archival newspaper clippings to record the past she says, “The truth is interesting enough.”

In her latest book Storied & Scandalous Charleston, a History of Piracy and Prohibition, Rebellion and Revolution, she reveals well documented, captivating events like the time the infamous Reverend Jenkins Orchestra band had a command performance for King George in England and the time convicted inmate John Fisher stayed at the Old City Jail with his wife Lavinia to die instead of taking his chance at freedom.

Handal is the perfect guide for those who want to dive deeper into the history of Charleston, and says she loves brining visitors to graveyards.

“I could spend most of my day hanging out in graveyards. I like dead people and I like to find out about them because everybody has a story to tell.”

Featured on this Episode:

Leigh Jones Handal ’81 has been an avid student of Charleston’s history since she was a Brownie Scout. Handal has been a licensed tour guide for more than twenty years and owns her own tour company, Charleston Raconteurs. She also serves as Chief Advancement Officer at the American College of Building Arts, where she once had an office at the Charleston District Jail, just down the hall from where Lavinia Fisher awaited her execution.

Resources on this Episode:

charlestonraconteurs.com

Storied & Scandalous Charleston, a History of Piracy and Prohibition, Rebellion and Revolution

Lost Charleston

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In this episode we speak with CofC junior Francesca Gibson and Jason Coy, chair of the History Department, about the experience of bewitchment in the 15 and 1600s. Funded by a Summer Undergraduate Research with Faculty (SURF) grant, Gibson and Coy explored a time in history when people believed in and feared witchcraft. Their research closely examined this fascinating period of time through the lens of history and psychology. A time when someone, usually a woman, could be accused of witchery based on the testimony of a member of the community and then sentenced to death. Digging deep into a treasure trove of archived sources like court testimonies, the research reveals the power of the mind to cause sleep disorders, nighttime terrors and physical pain.

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On this episode of Speaking Of...Jen Wright, director of the first-year experience, Jennifer Bradley, director for the center for excellence in peer education and Gabriella Gibson, peer facilitator join us to talk about the First-Year Experience program.
"We challenge students in a supportive environment," explains Jen Wright. "Our goal is to help them really challenge themselves, challenge their beliefs, challenge their knowledge, challenge their capacity for things. We want them to really fall down and struggle with things, but know that it's okay to do so, that we're there to support them, we're there to make sure that they get the help that they need. We encourage students to believe that they're capable of great things, that they're going to find their way to where they want to be on their life path."
Featured on this Episode:
Jen Cole Wright is a professor of psychology and director of the First Year Experience at the College of Charleston. As director of this vibrant program, she recruits talented faculty to teach first year seminars and learning communities. Wright teaches introductory courses in psychology and lifespan development, but her passion lies in courses on the psychology of human conflict and social change – teaching courses like Psychology of War and Conflict; Psychology of Oppression, Resistance and Regeneration; and Psychology of Social Change. She has been teaching in the First Year Experience program since 2009, teaching both seminars and learning communities with other faculty across campus. She has been a faculty fellow in both the Honors College and the Center for Sustainable Development.
Jennifer Bradley Smuniewski is the director of the Center for Excellence in Peer Education (CEPE) at the College of Charleston, supervising the FYE peer facilitators and assisting other offices on campus with creating and maintaining their peer education programs. She served as the associate director for CEPE for many years and also worked in the main office of the Office for the Academic Experience, now the Office for Student Success, providing direct support to the associate vice president for the academic experience.
She has a bachelor of arts in organizational communication from Clemson University and a master of education in counseling and student affairs from The Citadel Graduate College.
Gabriella Gibson is a senior at the College of Charleston and will graduate with a bachelor of science in sociology with a minor in psychology. San Diego–born and East Coast–raised, she has a passion for helping others and hopes to open a private practice in acceptance and commitment therapy. She enjoys traveling around the world, discovering new music and the arts. Resources in this Episode:
First-Year Experience
Be a Peer Facilitator
Spring 2024 Classes
Faculty Invited to Get Creative With First Year Experience Courses
First Year Experience Classes Offer Transformational Opportunities