Diversity and Inclusion
Trevor W. Purcell Memorial Lecture Series
The Trevor W. Purcell Memorial Lecture Series honors the legacy of the anthropologist Trevor W. Purcell (1945-2007), former chair of the Department of Africana Studies and member of the Department of Anthropology at the 新澳门六合彩内幕信息. The series invites scholars working in areas of Dr. Purcell鈥檚 research interests to speak to faculty, students, and staff at USF. These interests included the anthropology of Latin America and the Caribbean, indigenous knowledge, development studies, public anthropology, applied anthropology, and diversity and inclusion.
2024 Lecture - Dr. Maria A. Nieves Col贸n:
"Using ancient DNA to revisit the historical record of Latin [MANC1] America and the Caribbean"
Synopsis
Ancient DNA (aDNA) directly queries the genetic diversity of ancient and historic human populations. Such data can be used to investigate the experiences of peoples who have been historically marginalized or excluded from the written documentary record. As such, aDNA is especially relevant for understanding the history of the Americas, a region where settler colonial perspectives are overrepresented in the written historical record; often serving as the hegemonic frameworks from which past events are reconstructed and understood.
In this talk, I will present ongoing pilot research which combines aDNA and bioarchaeological approaches to investigate the African Diaspora to Latin America, by reconstructing the lives of enslaved laborers buried in an 18-19th century sugar plantation in coastal Peru (n=30). This community-engaged research project seeks to provide a new perspective towards histories of African captivity and diaspora in Latin America by centering the experiences of African and African-descendant communities in narratives of Peruvian history, heritage, and identity.
Overall, this presentation will stress how integrative aDNA research can problematize our understanding of history by constructing more inclusive narratives of the Latin American experience.
Meet the Speaker
Maria A. Nieves Col贸n is a molecular anthropologist whose research focuses on the
use of genomics and ancient DNA to reconstruct human history and evolution. Currently,
she is the director of the UMN Anthropological Genetics Laboratory where along with
her students, she is using ancient DNA to reconstruct the histories of ancient and
historic peoples living in Latin America and the Caribbean. She is originally from
Puerto Rico.
(Pronouns: she/her/hers)
Previous Speakers
2023
Dr. Ayana Omilade Flewellen
"The Biophysical Afterlives of Coral or The Persistence of Colonial Violence"
Dr. Frances Henry
"Racism and Anti Racism: Case Studies of Canadian Universities"
2022
Dr. Helina Woldekiros
"Ethnoarchaeological Perspective on the Afar Salt Caravan Route, Ethiopia"
2021
Dr. Serah Shani
"Ghanaian Immigrants in New York City: Transnational Lives and Schooling"
2018
Dr. Alisha R. Winn
"Walking Middle Ground: Practicing Anthropology in Community Space and Reconstructed
Neighborhoods"
2017
Dr. William J. Peace
"Anthropology at Columbia and Michigan: Social Justice Warriors and Contemporary Bioethics"
2016
Dr. Barbara R. Johnson
"Environemnt, Health and Human Rights - Notes from 'the field.'"
2015
Dr. Melissa Checker
"Sustainaphrenia: Environmental Gentrification, Justice and the 'Greening' of the
Big Apple"
2014
Dr. Thomas Leatherman
"Globalization, Inequality and Health Disparities in Southern Peru"
Dr. Charles R. Hale
"Between Participatory Mapping and 'Geo-Piracy'"
2013
Dr. Laurie Medina
"Governing Through the Market: Protected Areas, Ecotourism, and the Semi-Soverign
State in Belize"
2012
Dr. Carolyn Behrman
"Teaching Through Research: Food Insecurity at an Urban Elementary School"
Dr. Sarah J. Mahler
"Learning Culture as Comfort: Brain Research & Anthropological Contributions toward
Understanding Enculturation in Infants & Young Children"
2011
Dr. Thomas Hylland Eriksen
"Instant Anthropology and the July 22 Massacre in Norway"
Dr. Jane Henrici
"Out of Control: Disasters and the Intersections of Race, Gender, and Class"
Dr. Drexel G. Woodson
"When Tails Wag Dogs: Doing Anthropology in/on Haiti"
Dr. Ian Kuijt
"Those Days are Gone Now: Video Ethnography and Community Archaeology on 1900-1960
Inishark, Co. Galway, Ireland"
2010
Dr. Leandris C. Liburd
"Diabetes and Health Disparities: Community-based Approaches for Racial and Ethnic
Populations"
2009
Dr. Lisa Cliggett
"Community Formation in a Zambian Frontier"
2008
Dr. Maximilian C. Forte
"Internet Indigeneity and Anthropological Advocacy: Practicing Anti-Extinctionism,
Diffusing Indigeneity, and Web Development as Action Research"
2007
Dr. Julio Cammarota
"A Social Justice Epistemology and Pedagogy for Latina/o Students: Participatory Action
Research in Public Education"