AFST 418 - Anthropological Reflections of the African Diaspora

Fall (3) Blakey

Eurocentric anthropology, and historiography, often confronted black people with omissions and distortions of African and Diasporic history that belittled them while simultaneously providing tools for reclaiming cultural knowledge of self. Intellectuals from the Diaspora were thusly motivated to write from an anthropological point of view that sought to expose the lie, fill the void, and take control of ideas that empowered societies of African descent. This course explores the debate offered by Diasporans from the 18th-21st century and how its critique of “mainstream” anthropology may help further advance the field. (Cross listed with ANTH 461.)