National Geographic Live ft. Alicia Odewale - Greenwood: A Century of Resilience
Schedule
Thu Sep 22 2022 at 08:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Location
The Center for the Arts | Grass Valley, CA
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I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Tulsa. I specialize in African Diaspora archaeology in the Caribbean and Southeastern United States with a theoretical focus on Community centered, anti-racist and Black feminist archaeology. My dissertation entitled “Living among Presidents and Kings: Enslaved Africans Coping with Risk in Service to the Elite” compared the material culture of royal enslaved Africans in the Danish West Indies (modern day Virgin Islands) and enslaved Africans of a former U.S. president in Virginia to examine the natural and social environment affecting the enslaved community in both regions. This research also analyzes the different strategies these groups used to overcome the challenges they faced as they were forced to serve some of the most elite members of society.My archaeological training spans African Heritage Sites in Oklahoma, Mississippi, Arkansas, Virginia, and St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. My focus on telling the story of “royal slaves” in Christiansted and the archaeology of urban slavery in Caribbean contexts offers a unique contribution to current African Diaspora scholarship and has led to new questions regarding Danish enslavement, what life was like for enslaved persons in an urban environment in the Caribbean, the roles of persons enslaved to royal and presidential entities, how enslaved people responded to extreme weather conditions such as hurricanes, and a host of other inquiries.
I along with many others in the field share a commitment to diversifying the field of archaeology and academia, and many people are shocked to learn that I was actually the first person of color to graduate with a masters in Museum Science and Management from the University of Tulsa (TU) and then in 2016 became the first person in history to graduate with a doctorate degree in anthropology from TU. Even though these were big moments in my career, being the only African American throughout my graduate training in Anthropology sparked a larger life mission for me. Now as a faculty member, I am committed to building more inclusive research agendas and encouraging more minority participation in this field by (1st) educating the public about the diverse lifeways and world changing contributions of people of African descent in the past using the cultural material they left behind, and (2nd) by developing academic programs and partnering with organizations engaged in the work of training a new generation of diverse archaeologists that share a passion for the archaeology and history of the African Diaspora.
I have received support for my research through the University of Tulsa, the National Science Foundation, the George Odell Foundation, The National Park Service, The Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission, The Tulsa Community Foundation, American Anthropological Association, SREB- Minority Doctoral Scholars Program, Virgin Islands Caribbean Cultural Center, and the Montpelier Foundation.
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Where is it happening?
The Center for the Arts, 314 W Main Street,Grass Valley,CA,United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
