Anthropologist Profile: Dr. Ayana Flewellen, Black Feminist Archaeologist & More...

 

Dr. Ayana Flewellen (Source: Stanford University Department of Anthropology)

Dr. Ayana Flewellen almost did not go into the field of archaeology, an area of study that they are truly dedicated to and accomplished in. Growing up they were not aware of the possibility of becoming an archaeologist because they never saw Black archaeologists, only White archaeologists. It was by chance that they ended up in the field, and it is a blessing they did because they are a rising star within the field. This blog post is dedicated to addressing their career and accomplishments thus far.

Dr. Ayana Flewellen identifies as a Black, queer, nonbinary person who uses the pronouns they/she. Growing up they fell in love with history when their mother took them to various museums, including the Smithsonian. These activities were born out of a need to entertain themselves with limited funds, but for Flewellen it was an opportunity to explore their interests, igniting a passion in history at an early age. They began to explore that passion further as an undergraduate student at the University of Florida, where they spent the first two years of study as an undeclared student. This led them to take various courses to see what they were ultimately interested in, and it was by chance that they took a cultural anthropology course one summer. They became hooked on the field, leading them to take as many cross-listed anthropology and African American Studies courses as possible. When they took a course called, “Archaeology of African American Life,” Flewellen knew what they wanted to be when they grew up: an archaeologist.

Flewellen went onto graduate school in Texas, earning a Masters and then Ph.D. from the University of Texas. They met up with various other up and coming scholars, as well as learned from some of the best scholars in anthropology. Together, these experiences informed Flewellen’s scholarly approaches, leading them to pursue Black Feminist archaeology (among other related areas of study). Over the years they have accomplished a variety of achievements, including becoming the co-founder and current Board Chair of the Society of Black Archaeologists (a position shared with Justin Dunnavant), a Board Member of Diving With a Purpose, a member of the inaugural cohort of the Called By Water, and more. In 2022 Flewellen became an Assistant Professor at Stanford University, where they continue their studies in archaeology and maritime archaeology.

Flewellen, however, finds the most fulfillment in how their work touches the lives of those outside of the field. In 2020 they were part of a project involving diving into the Great Lakes to recover the remains of Tuskegee Airmen who crashed their plane during a WWII training mission. The opportunity to talk about that project with local students was fulfilling for Flewellen, meeting a life long goal of theirs to talk about histories that are very rarely addressed and brining humanity to people and populations that are often ignored and dehumanized throughout history. As Flewellen is a newer scholar it will be amazing to see where they go next and the next achievements they make in the field.

Bibliography

California Academy of Sciences. (2024). New Science: Ayana Flewellen. Retrieved from California Academy of Sciences: https://www.calacademy.org/new-science/ayana-flewellen

Flewellen, A. (n.d.). About. Retrieved from Ayana Omilade Flewellen: https://www.ayanaomiladeflewellen.com/about-1

Flewellen, A. O. (n.d.). Ayana Omilade Flewellen, Assistant Professor of Anthropology. Retrieved from Stanford Department of Anthropology: https://anthropology.stanford.edu/people/ayana-omilade-flewellen

The Explorer's Club. (2021). Ayana Omilade Flewellen: Archaeologist. Retrieved from The Explorer's Club: https://50.explorers.org/community/ayana-omilade-flewellen/

Applied Anthropologist Profile: Edward C. Davis IV, Educator, Linguist, and More...

Dr. Edward C. Davis IV

 

Dr. Edward C. Davis IV has and continues to have a varied career, drawing upon her educational experiences in anthropology, linguistics, and African studies. Davis is a Chicago native, but he proudly declares his family’s historical role in building various Underground Railroad homesteads in southern Illinois.  He also has genetic and historical evidence that traces his family’s lineage back to royal individuals from Angola, another point of pride for himself and his family. 

 

He earned his Master of Philosophy in Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, which he followed up with earning his Master’s and Ph.D. in African Diaspora studies at the University of California-Berkley.  His dissertation drew upon his previous anthropological training in historical linguistics as he examined pharmacology, lyrical ads, and dynastic kinship.  Upon earning his degrees, he landed a position at Malcolm X College.  He restarted the Africana and Anthropology curriculum at the school, as well as became the youngest tenured faculty member at the institution.  He left this position after eight years.  He currently teaches African American studies and anthropology at Southland College Prep Charter High School in the Chicago area.  In this role he also was responsible for the dual-credit programming with Loyola University Chicago. 

 

In addition to his academic positions he formed Uloño Geolinguistic Praxis Services, Inc. based on the Umbundu principle of intergenerational knowledge.  He also serves on the Executive Board for the Association of Black Anthropologists.  Given his age and achievements thus far it is suspected that he will continue to grow in his career, expanding his successes and creating a greater impact for all those he works with.

 

Works Cited

Association of Black Anthropologists. ABA Executive Board. n.d. Electronic. 26 November 2024.

Davis IV, Edward. "Graduate Alumni: Edward Davis IV." 2024. African American Studies & African Diaspora Studies. Electronic. 26 November 2024.

Anthropologist Profile: Dr. Chelsea Carter, Applied and Research Medical Anthropologist

 

Dr. Chelsea Carter

 

To describe Dr. Chelsea Carter in one word is difficult, but if forced to do so that word would be: phenomenal.  Carter, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, has established herself as one of the premiere medical anthropologists in the discipline.  Her passions lie within breaking down barriers faced by Black individuals within the American healthcare system, but she has also been instrumental in overcoming obstacles placed upon her and other young anthropologists as they advance the concepts of what it means to be an anthropologist.  Today’s blog post will discuss Dr. Chelsea Carter’s experiences and career further, including her on-going applied anthropological research projects.

 

Dr. Chelsea Carter was born and raised in St. Louis.  She reported that she went to predominantly White schools, wherein she was exposed to primarily Eurocentric subject matter.  She felt stifled in this environment, but she was able to explore her interests further upon enrolling in an introductory anthropology course at Emory University.  She felt a connection with the material, particularly the questions concerning cultural differences and diversity.  She was being exposed to ideas and ways of being that were different from what she had grown up learning, and she was excited to learn more.  She ultimately majored in Anthropology and Spanish at Emory, eventually becoming a recipient of the Majorie Shostak Award for Excellence in Ethnographic Writing and the Heart of Emory award.  She went on to graduate with high honors.

 

After graduating with her undergraduate degrees she eventually returned to St. Louis and enrolled in the anthropology graduate program at Washington University.  It was here that she earned her master’s and Ph.D., while also simultaneously earning her Master’s in Public Health.  Her research focused on Black patients’ experiences with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), popularly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that affects the brain and of which there is no cure.  Earning those degrees did not come easy.  In an interview with the American Anthropological Association Carter got candid about the challenges she faced during her time as a graduate student.  These challenges included “family health emergencies, advisor changes, an unsupportive academic community, and an abusive relationship.”  With the support of friends, family, anthropology mentors, and her therapist she was able to overcome here hardships and graduate in six years, a monumental feat in and of itself without the added obstacles.

 

Currently, Carter is employed at Yale University as an Assistant Professor of Public Health in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences.  She was previously employed as a Postdoc at Yale prior to landing her academic position.  When she is not teaching she is working on turning her doctorate into a book, which focuses on Black American patients with ALS and their experiences within the medical system, particularly as they face issues related to race, gender, class, and bias.  She is also involved in several other medical anthropology projects, including the Black Genome Project out of St. Louis, of which she is a Co-Principal Investigator. 

 

The purpose of the Black Genome Project is to survey Black populations throughout St. Louis and the greater metro area to understand their views of their genetic information and the impacts of genetic studies on individuals and their communities.  The project leaders seek to educate Black community members about genetic information and genomic data, specifically how it is used within healthcare and how they can utilize this information to better their own health and well-being.  There are additional goals of the project, such as seeking to destroy myths concerning race as a biologically supportable concept and educating people about the role this idea plays in medical racism and bias.  Ultimately, the Black Genome Project seeks to empower Black communities in having greater stewardship in their genetic data and research related to those data and their health.  This is in line with Carter’s own personal and professional goal for herself as anthropologist: “Overall, our goal should be to support positive societal change and liberation for historically marginalized people worldwide, whether or not we are situated within the academy.”

 

Works Cited

Black Genome Project. Black Genome Project. 2021. Electronic. 26 November 2024.

Carter, Chelsea. "Career Spotlight: Chelsey R. Carter." 21 February 2023. Anthropology Careers and Employment (American Anthropology Association). Electronic. 26 November 2024.

—. Chelsea Carter. 2020. Electronic. 26 November 2024.

Applied Anthropology: Dr. Elgin Klugh & the Laurel Memorial Cemetery Project

Dr. Elgin Klugh (Source: Coppin State University)

 

Dr. Elgin Klugh did not intend on pursuing anthropology when he was an undergraduate student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.  It was from a twist of fate that he enrolled in a cultural anthropology at sister institution Spelman College, which launched his subsequent career in applied anthropology.  This blog post will delve more deeply into Dr. Elgin Klugh’s applied anthropological work as it relates to the now completed Laurel Memorial Cemetery Project.

 

Dr. Elgin Klugh is an Associate Professor and Department Chair at Coppin State University, an Historically Black College & University in Baltimore, Maryland.  He came to work at Coppin after he completed his Ph.D. in Applied Anthropology at University of Southern Florida in 2004.  He was drawn to the field due to his desire to better understand race and ethnicity in the United States, which he felt he could better explore though advanced anthropological training.  With research interests in heritage, cultural landscapes, community revitalization, and genealogy he has managed to establish himself not only as a researcher but advocate for African American populations in the greater Baltimore area.

 

It was these very interests that encouraged him to partner with faculty at the University of Baltimore in the Laurel Memorial Cemetery Project.  He and his faculty collaborator initially saw this as an opportunity for their students, particularly those with interests in history, environmental sciences, cultural resource management, and archaeology, to get applied experience in the field.  The purpose of the Laurel Memorial Cemetery Project was to document and memorialize an African American cemetery that had been razed in 1958 for the construction of a shopping complex.  As Klugh, his faculty collaborators, and the students began their work in 2014 they quickly realized that there were a lot of inaccuracies in the historical record about what really happened in 1958.  According to the records there were 300 “burials” that had been moved, but the reality was that it was not the actual burials that were moved.  Just the headstones.  Plus, the cemetery had anywhere from 14,000 to 40,000 burials, not the mere 300 previously recorded.  This meant that the project was far larger than initially perceived, and collaborators and student participants from other area colleges and universities, including Community College of Baltimore County, Towson University, and Morgan State University, were enlisted in the work.

 

The project was completed in three phases.  The first phase, which began in 2015 and was completed in 2017, involved archaeological work.  Students were led by archaeologists at the University of Baltimore in excavating an open field adjacent to the shopping center to assess if there were any remaining burials on the property.  These were discovered.  Additionally, noninvasive techniques, including remote sensing with a magnetometer and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), were employed to scan the parking lot and other areas inaccessible to traditional excavations.  These, too, demonstrated evidence to burials that had not been moved prior to the construction of the shopping center.

 

The second phase employed Klugh’s expertise.  Historical and ethnographic research was conducted, which involved three separate areas of inquiry.  Historical research was completed to understand the use and eventual razing of the cemetery, along with research on who had been buried in it over the 100 plus years the cemetery had been used.  Lastly, there were oral histories collected from members of the community and family members of deceased individuals interred at the cemetery.  One of the things that Klugh noted was the loss of collective memory of the cemetery, as well as the sparsity of historical records on its existence.  This underscored the need to document the cemetery and its loss to redevelopment to remember the people who had lived and then been buried at the cemetery, as well as document the historical injustice against these individuals and the African American communities of the area. 

 

Various local community members were involved in the project, and they report great satisfaction in learning about their histories and the cemetery.  This participation lent itself well to the final stage of the project, which involved erecting a memorial at the site.  The memorial would act as a place marker for what had once existed but was now lost.  It would also serve as an educational tool.  The memorial was erected in part through grant money Klugh and his collaborators secured.  Additionally, Klugh and others coauthored a book on the project, which came out in December 2024.

 

Now that the Laurel Memorial Cemetery Project is completed Klugh is focusing his attention on community development and revitalization in the urban areas around Coppin State University.  This new project is on-going, but it serves his other interests and fulfills his purpose as an anthropologist.  According to Klugh: "Anthropology is the venue through which I am able to align my curiosities and my passion with my professional life. As an applied anthropologist, I am interested in ways that anthropological knowledge can be used to improve lives and communities.”  So far it is safe to say that Klugh is doing just that through his previous and current projects.

 

Works Cited

American Anthropological Association. Elgin L. Klugh, PhD, Associate Professor, Coppin State University. 2024. Electronic. 26 November 2024.

Coppin State University. Faculty: Elgin Klugh, PhD; Professor and Chairperson. 2024. Electronic. 26 November 2024.

Klugh, Elgin. "The Laurel Cemetery Project of Baltimore." 18 January 2019. National Association for the Practice of Anthropology. Electronic. 26 November 2024.

Klugh, Elgin. Why Anthropology? Elgin Klugh Irma McClaurin. 1 June 2024. Electronic.

Laurel Cemetery Memorial Project. Project Overview, Laurel Cemetery Memorial Project. n.d. Electronic. 26 November 2024.