Nicholas Tošaj (Ph.D. Toronto) is a professor of history at John Abbott College and an active participant in the Oxford Symposium of Food and Gastronomy. 
He will explore the history of bread and staple carbohydrates; its cultural importance in shaping the modern French colonial empire of France, colonial Morocco and French Indochina. He will address themes as varied as colonization, technology and cultural exchange, which provide insight into how dietary habits have shaped the modern world.