Community Calendar

Webs, Not Triangles: Yoruba and Swahili Routes toward African Diaspora Studies at Grinnell

This presentation Dr.Thabiti Willis uses research on masquerade and spirit possession rituals in Nigeria and pearl diving heritage in Bahrain to articulate a vision for the new Department of African Diaspora Studies (ADS) at Grinnell. Grounded in ethnographic and archival work on rituals performed by Yoruba-speakers in Nigeria and their descendants in Brazil and Cuba, it also focuses on African involvement in the history and memory of pearl diving in the Arabian/Persian Gulf. Placing Yoruba and Swahili diasporas in dialogue shows how movements of people, institutions, and practices generate forms of belonging that unsettle conventional assumptions about gender, culture, religion, labor, and personhood. Bringing these strands together, the talk outlines a bold, interdisciplinary, and globally grounded vision for ADS.