Learn about current archeological research from all over the world…from anywhere in the world…even from your couch! All lectures are FREE and offered via Zoom. Follow the links below to register.
October 10, 2024 at 6:30pm CDT
Dr. Mary Elizabeth “Liz” Ibarrola, University of Texas at Austin
“Rising Tides: Climate Change and the Untold Stories of Fort Mose.”
Dr. Ibarrola will be presenting “Rising Tides: Climate Change and the Untold Stories of Fort Mose.” Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose was a small, fortified settlement founded in 1738 by the Spanish governor of East Florida and populated by emancipated Africans, many of whom had escaped slavery in the adjacent British colonies. The fort, and its surrounding town and agricultural fields, was a manifestation of the freedom offered to enslaved people in Florida under the Spanish. Today invisible to the untrained eye and tucked away in a small state park, Fort Mose reflects the little known but central role played by freedom-seeking Africans in the early history of Florida. Furthermore, the threats to heritage preservation currently faced at the site highlight the ways which social marginalization of Afro-diasporans has continuously impacted the site. Fort Mose was vulnerable by design, and while today recognized for its symbolic role in the colonial era, it is threatened not only by rising sea levels and increased storm activity, but also Florida’s history of anti-blackness.
December 10, 2024 at 6:30PM CST
Dr. Julie Zimmermann, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Storytelling in the Creation of Cahokia, a Native American Theater State
Cahokia might be understood as the capital of a Native American theater state which drew people to it and spread its influence by attracting followers through theatrical rituals. Of those rituals, storytelling was primary, because stories create worldview and give meaning to all other rituals. Cahokian stories were embodied in artworks made at and disseminated from Cahokia. Primary among these stories was that of a hero who wore human head earrings. Cosmological and goddess stories were also told by Cahokians, but the stories of heroes are those most commonly depicted in Braden-style artworks found far from Cahokia. The dissemination of hero stories might support the notion that Cahokia was a theater state, and the heroic epic was a tool of statecraft central to the growth of that state. Cahokians created their world through stories, but it was through hero stories that they grew their authority in far-flung societies.
February 6, 2025 at 6:30 CST
Dr. Katherine Chiou, University of Alabama Topic and abstract coming soon.
Dr. Mary Elizabeth “Liz” Ibarrola, University of Texas at Austin