Maria Kennedy, PhD
In between cider adventures I am busy at my full time job as a faculty member in the Rutgers University Department of American Studies, where I am the Co-Director of the New Jersey Folk Festival. I teach courses in folklore, public humanities, and lead an intrepid team of students who manage the folk festival each year.
I worked previously as the Folk Arts Coordinator at The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes. Though my work there spanned many other projects, I highlighted fruit heritage of the region through the Finger Lakes Fruit Heritage Project.
I received my PhD from Indiana University’s Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology. My research examined countryside conservation and agricultural heritage issues in the UK, specifically looking at orchard landscapes and small scale cider production.
I spent a glorious year and a half living in Britain, where I worked for Ross on Wye Cider and Perry Company, learning the basics of cider making (and cider drinking). Back in the States, I worked for Oliver Winery and Creekbend Vineyard and expanded my sights into viticulture and wine-making.
I dabble in home wine and cider making, but I am not a commercial producer, purveyor, or politician. I am a story-teller. The title of my blog nods to Laurie Lee’s memoir, an inspiration, and a gift given to me by my first cider making mentor.
Cider with Maria began as a blog experiment to update some friends in the UK on the growing cider industry in North America, particularly the events at Cider Con. Over time, however, it has become an eclectic collection of thoughts and meditations on the culture, history, and contemporary experiences surrounding cider, orchards, vineyards, wine, artisanal food, and rural landscapes. It is now my primary site to highlight my work across academia, research, and community projects.
Contact:
maria.kennedy@rutgers.edu
@ciderwithmaria (Instagram)
Please see my Publications page on this website for links to several articles and my full CV
Maria Kennedy retains copyright for all content on this blog, including text and original photos
Cider With Maria 
Looking forward to more of your insights. Great stuff so far, and I respect your choice of research 🙂
Excited to hear more about your thesis and your time at Ross-on-Wye! I did my undergraduate work at IU…are there any good places to buy/drink cider in Bloomington?
Hey Maria – I enjoyed reading your blog posts so far; it’s interesting to hear about Cider Con 2013 & what seems like a search for identity(!). Born in Somerset, living in East Anglia (Cambridge) and having also spent a bit of time at Broome Farm, it’s easy to take it for granted… Historically (I’m led to believe), our cider was displaced westwards by the beer-brewing Saxons in the east, then influenced by our Norman desert-apple growing cousins from the south; hence the lack of tannics in East Anglia – much to my chagrin! What’s the history of cider in the USA? Did it die out or is it a continuous lineage? Keep writing – interesting stuff!
The TL;DR version:
Prohibition placed strict limits on cider apple orchards, and when it was lifted, wheat was far easier to grow, making way for beer.
dessert