David Williams-Tortolini

AMST 201 - Interpreting America

David Willaims-Tortolini’s researches how the senses are used to construct identities and meaning through what is called sensory mapping. Williams-Tortolini’s work argues that our understanding of our senses is part of a Western-dominated discourse due to the legacies of colonialism and capitalism. Through a critical examination of the coffee industry, he explores how coffee roasters use sensory maps and their effects on coffee-producing communities. His work also investigates how these maps impact social classes. Williams-Tortolini is especially interested in how coffee roasters use sensory maps in their online stores. He argues that these online spaces function like their real-world counterparts, when roasters sell and define regions of the world through the invocation of the exotic. His work with these digital platforms also shows how easily our senses can be digitized and used online.

When he is not working on research in his field(s) of focus, he also performs work in Food Studies and Latin American studies

M.A., Humanities, Old Dominion University

B.A., English, Old Dominion University.