African Languages and Societies Commons^™

Caribbean Commodity: The Marketing And Consumption Of Black Bahamian Female Identity, Dellareese Higgs

Africana Studies Student Research Conference (2013-2019)

Abstract

In this essay, I explore the Bahamas’ connection to tourism, tracing and defining how it became the central aspect of the country’s economy, and how whiteness was re-deployed in this new era of tourism. I examine the impact of these phenomena on the identity constructions of the local culture, and articulate women’s placement in the effort to re-invent the Bahamas as the ultimate tourist destination. While the essay specifically documents the nature of tourism in the Bahamas, it focuses primarily on the women within tourism’s many fronts of cultural change and marginalization. I use the term ‘white tourist culture’ …

"Synthesizing Cubism And Surrealism: Wifredo Lam's 1940s Cuban Works", Kelsey Winiarsky

Africana Studies Student Research Conference (2013-2019)

As a modernist artist, Wifredo Lam used issues of racial degradation and colonialism as a catalyst to create work that directly addressed issues of colonialism in Cuba. Akin to Picasso’s process of appropriating of African motifs within a modern, Cubist style, Wifredo Lam created and appropriated a pastiche of both Surrealistic and Cubist styles into his 1940s paintings. The utilization of these modern styles engendered Lam’s international reputation while providing him with a powerful, creative outlet to express his struggle as an Afro-Cuban. Through the use of African masks and the Santería religion in his paintings during this time period, …

"Africa In The Museum: The Politics Of The Display Of African Material Culture At The Field Museum", Kristin Otto

Africana Studies Student Research Conference (2013-2019)

In this paper, I will analyze how museum exhibitions use material culture to construct and present a narrative about Africa. Exhibiting material culture reflects the power, authority, and ideology of the exhibitor, sometimes at the expense of the displayed culture’s agency in representation. Museums have a particularly infamous history of distorting African culture in exhibits, often validating racist ideologies. Consequently, zealous museum critics have begun to question the relevance of museums in the future public education. The public, however, continues to visit museums and experience exhibits featuring African objects. Based on the challenges and controversies museums exhibiting African objects face …

Africa's Conflict Minerals, Toni Smith

Africana Studies Student Research Conference (2013-2019)

Conflict minerals are becoming a significant concern in the international community (as seen in the passage of legislature regulating and addressing them such as America’s Dodd Frank Act). Through the efforts of the United Nations, non-governmental organizations, and grassroots organizations (among others), Africa’s conflict minerals are receiving an ever increasing amount of attention. Though conflict minerals are mined in a variety of nations around the world, one nation that is endowed with all four minerals (tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold) discussed in this paper is the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Along with being a nation highly endowed with …