About

About Christine

Discover fab flavors, explore cool places, and savor learning with this funky professor.

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About Christine Rai:

Christine Rai is a college professor in the Washington, D.C. area with a passion for food studies and experiential learning. A food nerd, she loves learning more in her kitchen, garden, and travels. Above all, Christine enjoys sharing adventures with her family.

She collaborates with area businesses and organizations to design and provide dynamic tours and talks on food, culture, folklore, and more.

Christine is available for speaking, teaching, and leading travel experiences. Fill out the contact form to get in touch.

Hungry for more? Keep reading below.

Taste

One of Christine’s central passions is food: tasting, cooking, and growing. She enjoys cooking vegan and non-vegan dishes inspired by her travels and visits to international groceries.

417231_2680224284073_1210276447_32051671_2023286919_n — An early incarnation of Christine’s potager, planted with herbs, vegetables, flowers, and fruit.

Travel

Christine’s love for travel was sparked at an early age by family travels across the US in a motorhome and her older brother’s entrancing tales of travel to Hong Kong. She enjoys traveling domestically with her family while seeking authentic experiences. In 2016 Christine traveled to Rome, Italy for a study abroad leader training and to France for a short term study abroad experience with a group from her college. She also planned and led a food and culture themed college trip to Italy in January 2020 that paired with a cultural competency development course.

At a cafe with study abroad students in the Marais neighborhood of Paris

Teach

Teaching is a key part of Christine’s identity; she has been an educator for over 20 years and has taught preschool, middle school, high school, college, professional development, and modeling. She utilizes a student-centered, active learning model, guided by principles of Universal Design. Christine infuses experiential learning opportunities in all her classes, including service learning, field trips, and cooking demonstrations. She currently is an English faculty member and professional development coordinator at Frederick Community College.

Christine’s food-themed English 101 class on a field trip to Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in NY.

Christine Rai’s Credentials

An award-winning professor and food and travel writer, Christine also leads tours, tastings, and talks.

Community Engagement

Tours and Talks

History of Lexington Market (via Zoom)
Feeding Baltimore: Public Markets, Arabbers, and Urban Farms (via Zoom)
Food justice (via Zoom)
The Flavors of Maryland (via Zoom)
Cheese tastings, various themes (In-person and via Zoom)
Lavender and Humanity (In-person and via Zoom)
Bonfire Tales: Monsters and Mysteries of Maryland (In-person storytelling)
Haunted History walking tour (for Historic Medley District)
Paranormal Poolesville (via Zoom, introducing spooky folklore book project with co-author)

Guided cheese tastings are delicious, fun, & educational.

Day Trips

Experience The Underground Railroad in Central Maryland
Experience Edgar Allen Poe in Baltimore
Experience Glenstone Museum’s Amazing Art and Landscapes
Experience the Wonderful World of Topiary at Ladew Gardens

Cheese Workshops

All About Brie
Charcuterie and Cheese
Cheese 101
Dutch Cheese and Culture
Spanish Cheese and Culture
Italian Cheese and Culture
French Cheese and Culture
Cheese, Chocolate, and Wine
Bubbles and Cheese
Book Tasting: The Whole Fromage
Pairing Perfection: Cheese and Accoutrements
Rose and Cheese
DIY Cheese Board
All About Sheep Cheese
White Wine and Cheese
Pairing Wine and Cheese

Academic Audience

Presentations & Workshops

Pasta Making Demo
Italian Cheeses & Salumi Tasting
Food and Culture: French Cooking Demo & Tasting
Food & Culture: Levantine Cooking Demo & Tasting
Food & Culture: Soul Food Cooking Demo & Tasting (with guest speaker)
Addressing Skill Gaps with RAC and WAC
Trauma-Sensitive Classroom (with co-presenters)
Crafting IRL & ONL Teaching and Learning Spaces for Eye Health
Food Justice: Empowering Our Students and Communities
Homeless & Hungry On Campus: Helping Struggling Students
Optimizing Assessment
Food Insecurity at Frederick Community College: Teaching with Dignity
Assessment in Action
Science of Learning: Brain-Based Instructional Methods
Faculty in the Field: Community Based Learning (series)
Riot Grrrl Feminism and The Punk Singer (documentary screening)
Teaching Naked (essentials and workshop series)
A Model for Expanding Study Abroad for Community College Students
Experiential Learning: Outside the Classroom and Beyond the Campus
Best Practices for Integrating Service Learning
Place as Text: For Honors Faculty
How Universal Design Can Benefit All Your Students
Teaching Across Borders: Helping Our International Students Succeed
Creating Classroom Communities
“Worst Class Ever”: Dealing with Student Dissent
Active Learning in the Adult Classroom
Introduction to Differentiation (hybrid series)
Differentiating Instruction to Maximize Student Success
Engaging Your Students with Active Learning
Student-Centered Teaching Tools: For Adjunct STEM Faculty

Pasta making demo at Frederick Community College with a fellow professor.

COURSES CREATED/REDESIGNED

ENGL 226: Film as Literature: Redesigned course to meet cultural competency and low-cost/OER guidelines and to emphasize film as a vehicle for storytelling, a medium of artistic expression, and a transmitter of culture.
ID 200: Honors Food and Culture: Interdisciplinary Honors course integrating history, sociology, anthropology, film, and conflict cuisine
ACCE 250: Global Scholar Experience: Cultural competency development umbrella course for short term study abroad with a mentorship model for trip co-leader

INTERNATIONAL Academic Trips LED

Food and Culture of Italy, paired with hybrid Global Scholar Experience course, 2020
Food and Culture of France, paired with online Global Scholar Experience course, 2016