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 ßÙßÇÂþ»­. The series invites scholars working in areas of Dr. Purcell’s 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 Colón: 

"Using ancient DNA to revisit the historical record of Latin [MANC1] America and the Caribbean"

Synopsis

Dr. Maria A. Nieves Colón's Lab

Dr. Nieves Colón's research lab.

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 Colón 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"