Profiles of the 2006 Seminar Participants

The following 16 students, who are enrolled in a variety of graduate programs in the U.S. and abroad, were selected from more than 50 applicants to participate in the 2006 “Interrogating the African Diaspora” Summer Seminar, which had for its theme, “Performing African Diasporas.”

Here they are by alphabetic order:

Judy Anderson is from Liberia and is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Cultural Anthropology and Film and Media Studies at the University of Florida.  The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Reviving and Reclaiming Black Identities in Argentina through Performance: Afro-Brazilians in Buenos Aires.”

Marlo David Azikwe is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program in English at the University of Florida.  The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Magnificently Physical: Big Mama, Performance, and the Reproduction of Black Mothering Bodies.”               

Jung Ran Annachiara Forte is from Korea and is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Social Anthropology and Ethnology at Ecole des Haute Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, France.  The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Sacred Journeys and Vodun Ancestry: Diaspora Homecoming and the Formation of an African Diasporic Subjectivity.”

Natasha Himmelman received her M. Phil. in African Literature at the University of Cape Town in Cape Town, South Africa.  The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “The Language(s) of the Hip-Hop: Nation: Interrogating the Subversive Power of Multi-Lingualism.”

Sharon Kivenko is from Montreal, Canada and is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Social Anthropology at Harvard University.  The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Dancing Through Performance-Scapes: Transnationalism and West African Dance in the African Diaspora.”

Treva Lindsey is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program in History at Duke University.  The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Presenting Black Female Sexuality and Contesting Subjectivity.”

Cassandra Lord is from Montreal, Canada and is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Sociology and Equity Studies in Education and the collaborative program in Womens’ Studies and Gender Studies at the University of Toronto.  The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Mapping Diaspora in Queer Celebrations:  Imagining Home, Nation and Belonging in Pride Parades and Pelau Masqueerade.”

Maria McMath is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Cultural Anthropology at Princeton University.  The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Diaspora as the Refusal of Nationalism in French Hip Hop.”

Uri McMillan is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program in African American Studies and American Studies at Yale University.  The paper he applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Feminist Camp Nao Bustamante, Coco Fosco, and Dirty Harriet Tubman.”

Sionne Rameah Neely is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program in American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.  The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Soundtracking: Tracking Sounds as Mobile Structures of Afro-Feelings.”

Samantha Noel is from Trinidad and is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Art and Art History at Duke University.  The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “De Jamette in We: Performativity and the Visual Politics of Gender in Contemporary Trinidad Carnival.”

Connie Rapoo is from Botswana and is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Theater at the University of California, Los Angeles.  The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Just Give Us the Bones: Theatres of Remembering African Diasporic Bodies.”

Katherine Smith is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Culture and Performance at the University of California, Los Angeles.  The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Condoms and Carnival: Finding Meaning in Inappropriate Laughter.”

Ondra Thomas-Krouse is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program in English at the University of Georgia.  The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Exploring the Narrative Value of the African Musical Arts.”

Erica Williams is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Cultural and Sociology at Stanford University. The paper she applied to the seminar with was entitled: “Tourism and the Commodification of Black Culture and Black Bodies in Bahia, Brazil.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Lecture series is made possible thanks to a grant from the Ford Foundation and the support of FIU’s Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC).