Eduardo Douglas Lecture "Genealogy and the Pre-Hispanic Past in Early Colonial Tetzcocan Manuscripts"

10/20/2011 7:00:00 PM

Visual Arts Center VAC-117 Semans Lecture Hall

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Atlantic Africa: The Missing Link in Southern Culture- February 25-27, 2011, Davidson College

 Funded by an ACS-Mellon Faculty Renewal Grant

ACS-Mellon Faculty Renewal Grant funded a weekend teaching workshop, entitled "Atlantic Africa: The Missing Link in Southern Culture" which was hosted by Davidson College. Twelve 12 faculty members from various ACS institutions participated in the teaching workshop February 25-27, 2011. This teaching workshop was not designed for specialists, but rather for faculty who wish to revise or rejuvenate existing courses with modules that demonstrate Atlantic Africa's contributions to southern culture. The Northwestern Europeans who settled in the eastern United States in the 17th and 18th centuries were mainly of British, Scot-Irish, and German extraction. Yet, the culture of the Southeastern U.S. is very distinct from that associated with the Northeastern region. Scholars concur that part of the cultural distinctiveness of the American South can be attributed to the presence of Atlantic Africans. This workshop introduced participants to the dynamic role enslaved Atlantic Africans played in the cultural formation of the American South, from Maryland to eastern Texas. Thirty years ago there was a paucity of research dealing with Africa's influence on America. In recent decades there has been a steady growth in scholarship concerned with Atlantic Africa's influence on the Americas, including the American South. The main goal of the workshop was to assist the participating faculty in integrating this knowledge into our college curriculums. After two days of workshops, plenary sessions and a keynote address, the participants created teaching modules which would be included in courses in Religion, Archeology, Literature, Political Science, History and Music.
The workshop was organized by Professor Nancy J. Fairley who is Professor of Anthropology at Davidson College and two colleagues from other ACS institutions: Alice Hines who is a Professor of English at Hendrix College and Sandra Sprayberry who is a Professor of English at Birmingham-Southern College.