Graduate Program
Matthew V. Howell
Areas of Interest
Food, Theory, Culture, Organizations
Profile
Ph.D. expected 2011
M.A. 2009
“After a twenty year career in the food service industry, which culminated in his becoming the general manager of a training facility for new managers, Howell returned to school in 2003 to continue his education. He had completed his Associate’s of Arts degree in Liberal Arts earlier in his life. After being accepted at the University of Arizona, Howell graduated magna cum laude in 2005 with his Bachelor’s of Arts in sociology. His background in the food service industry fueled his curiosity regarding, and his sociological investigation of, the production and consumption of food. His Master’s Thesis examined the methods of presentation and control of identity and image by restaurant organizations through the medium of the internet. Howell has turned his attention to one of his long time hobbies; comic books. For his dissertation, Howell plans to conduct an ethnography investigating comic book fans, and how they incorporate comic books into their personal identity and presentation of self. Howell is also researching sociological theory regarding food production and consumption, constructing a theoretical position that uses food production and consumption as a lens through which to view individual societies and society in general.”