CALL FOR PAPERS!
SBA has been INVITED to create a panel for the 2012 Association for the Study of African American Life and History convention in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia by the convention organizers. Excitement! We are currently looking for paper presentations for the panel so please e-mail sbachaeologist@gmail.com if interested.
Checkout the ASALH convention website here: http://asalh.org/annualconvention.html
Checkout the ASALH convention website here: http://asalh.org/annualconvention.html
2012 National Council for Black Studies
Annual Conference Atlanta, Georgia
SBA members Blair Starnes, Justin Dunnavant, Paula Saunders and Ayana Flewellen with author Haki R. Madhubuti at the 2012 NCBS conference in Atlanta, Ga
Our Things Remembered: Unearthing relations between Archaeology and Black Studies Sheraton Atlanta
165 Courtland Street, NE
Atlanta, Ga 30303
Saturday, March 10, 2012
9:30-10:45am
Abstract
Black/Africana Studies and African American/ African Diaspora Archaeology are two of very few fields whose sole purpose is to produce relevant knowledge about the experience of African descendants in the United States and the African Diaspora. However, these two fields rarely are able to converse about shared methods, theories, goals, or criticisms of current and passed scholarship. This panel, composed of members of the Society for Black Archaeologists, will engage in the role of Black Studies in African American archaeology specifically in the arena of Black Feminism, Black Labor, and African-centered approaches to archaeology.
Archaeology and the Cultural Capital of Kongolese Metal Production: A Black Studies Perspective
Blair Starnes, African American and African Studies, Archeology
In this paper, I argue that scholarly interpretations of material culture of African descendants in the Americas, especially within the field of Historic Archaeology, will greatly benefit from inclusions of an African American and African Studies (AAAS) evaluative perspective. I discuss how an AAAS perspective refines archeological approaches and ultimately enhances analysis of the role of Kongolese cultural and social practices in the development of African metal production. My research suggests a model for more appropriately assessing the relationship between the past lives of African descendants and material objects that they left behind.
Archaeology and the Black Experience
Justin Dunnavant, Archaeology
This paper will trace the relationship between U.S. African Americans and archaeology from 1784 to the present, highlighting the important contributions we have made and continue to make in excavating America’s past. While African American historical and heritage sites have increasingly become the center of archaeological attention in America, African Americans remain largely underrepresented as both project organizers or field excavators. In conclusion, I will cite areas of possible expansion, advocating for the establishment of a Society for Black Archaeologists for both professionals and community members interested in contributing to knowledge production of Black America’s material past.
Black Feminist Theory and It’s Praxis in Historical Anthropology
Ayana Flewellen, Anthropology and Archaeology
This paper examines the beneficial use of a Black feminist theoretical lens in providing an alternative approach in the field of historical archaeology. It highlights how a theory rooted in the Black female experience provides interdisciplinary cannon through which research within the social sciences is conducted that critically examines the intersectionality of race, class, and sex in the material record of Black America’s Past. This framework seeks to provide a gendered lens to answer questions about the intersectionality of race, class, and gender and how it is expressed in the material record of Black descendants in the Americas.
African Diaspora Archaeologies in the Caribbean
Paula Saunders, Ph.D.
In the last fifty years, historical archaeology research in the Caribbean was conducted on diverse sites in the region. Although early archaeology in the Caribbean focused on early sites relating to indigenous populations, in more recent times, sites relating to African peoples in the Caribbean have been one main focus of numerous studies. This emphasis on African sites is fitting given the fact that people of African descent are the dominant group in the region. The focus of the research has been on the history and experiences of African-descended peoples. This paper examines the trends in these recent archaeologies of the Africans in the Caribbean. It will summarize the major research conducted in the region so far, the outcomes, and provide areas in which future archaeological and historical research could focus. It will also emphasize the importance of the field of Archaeology in research on the history and experiences of people of African descent in Black Studies.
165 Courtland Street, NE
Atlanta, Ga 30303
Saturday, March 10, 2012
9:30-10:45am
Abstract
Black/Africana Studies and African American/ African Diaspora Archaeology are two of very few fields whose sole purpose is to produce relevant knowledge about the experience of African descendants in the United States and the African Diaspora. However, these two fields rarely are able to converse about shared methods, theories, goals, or criticisms of current and passed scholarship. This panel, composed of members of the Society for Black Archaeologists, will engage in the role of Black Studies in African American archaeology specifically in the arena of Black Feminism, Black Labor, and African-centered approaches to archaeology.
Archaeology and the Cultural Capital of Kongolese Metal Production: A Black Studies Perspective
Blair Starnes, African American and African Studies, Archeology
In this paper, I argue that scholarly interpretations of material culture of African descendants in the Americas, especially within the field of Historic Archaeology, will greatly benefit from inclusions of an African American and African Studies (AAAS) evaluative perspective. I discuss how an AAAS perspective refines archeological approaches and ultimately enhances analysis of the role of Kongolese cultural and social practices in the development of African metal production. My research suggests a model for more appropriately assessing the relationship between the past lives of African descendants and material objects that they left behind.
Archaeology and the Black Experience
Justin Dunnavant, Archaeology
This paper will trace the relationship between U.S. African Americans and archaeology from 1784 to the present, highlighting the important contributions we have made and continue to make in excavating America’s past. While African American historical and heritage sites have increasingly become the center of archaeological attention in America, African Americans remain largely underrepresented as both project organizers or field excavators. In conclusion, I will cite areas of possible expansion, advocating for the establishment of a Society for Black Archaeologists for both professionals and community members interested in contributing to knowledge production of Black America’s material past.
Black Feminist Theory and It’s Praxis in Historical Anthropology
Ayana Flewellen, Anthropology and Archaeology
This paper examines the beneficial use of a Black feminist theoretical lens in providing an alternative approach in the field of historical archaeology. It highlights how a theory rooted in the Black female experience provides interdisciplinary cannon through which research within the social sciences is conducted that critically examines the intersectionality of race, class, and sex in the material record of Black America’s Past. This framework seeks to provide a gendered lens to answer questions about the intersectionality of race, class, and gender and how it is expressed in the material record of Black descendants in the Americas.
African Diaspora Archaeologies in the Caribbean
Paula Saunders, Ph.D.
In the last fifty years, historical archaeology research in the Caribbean was conducted on diverse sites in the region. Although early archaeology in the Caribbean focused on early sites relating to indigenous populations, in more recent times, sites relating to African peoples in the Caribbean have been one main focus of numerous studies. This emphasis on African sites is fitting given the fact that people of African descent are the dominant group in the region. The focus of the research has been on the history and experiences of African-descended peoples. This paper examines the trends in these recent archaeologies of the Africans in the Caribbean. It will summarize the major research conducted in the region so far, the outcomes, and provide areas in which future archaeological and historical research could focus. It will also emphasize the importance of the field of Archaeology in research on the history and experiences of people of African descent in Black Studies.
