Profile
Lila Sharif is a doctoral candidate in the departments of Sociology and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, San Diego. She will be the first Palestinian-American to obtain a Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies. Ms. Sharif's research examines the points of convergence between food tastes, cultural identity, land struggles, indigenous sovereignty, and ecological integrity. Using the olive as an optic, Ms. Sharif's dissertation project explores the transnational network of fair trade industries that bring olive oils, aromatic soaps, and savory tapenades from the West Bank into U.S. pantries. She traces the circulation of olive products from Palestine beginning and ending with narratives around the olive harvest. Her long term research goals are to challenge the familiar representations of the Middle East as a site riddled with conflict and chaos, through a more nuanced and intimate look at the lives of people living there.
