African American Studies at Princeton University

African American Studies at Princeton University is a monthly podcast conversation about the books and ideas animating the field of African American Studies in the 21st Century and the political, economic, and cultural forces that shape our understanding of race and racial groups. We invite you to listen as we “read” how race and culture are produced globally – looking past outcomes to beginnings, questioning dominant discourses, and considering evidence instead of myth. The podcast is recorded and produced at Princeton University in the Department of African American Studies. Visit aas.princeton.edu for more information.

Black Political Thought Through Turmoil 12/05/2024

A Black Gaze 06/16/2022

A Black Gaze How do we look at, and respond to, work by Black contemporary artists? In this episode, we sat down with Tina Campt, Visiting Professor in Art & Archaeology and the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton. We trace the arc of Prof. Campt’s career, from her earlier research on family photography in the African diaspora and how one can “listen to images,” all the way to her current writing and recent trip to this year’s Venice Biennale. Along the way, we discuss concepts that elucidate the aesthetic, political, and experiential dynamics of work by artists like Jennifer Packer, Cameron Rowland, Stan Douglas, and Simone Leigh. Deep Dive: How to “listen” to a photograph Tina M. Campt, (Duke University Press, 2017). Tina M. Campt, (MIT Press, 2021). The Breakdown - Guest Info (Photo credit: ) Tina M. Campt () Professor Campt taught a multidisciplinary seminar called “Radical Composition” as a Visiting Professor at Princeton for the Spring 2022 semester. She is the Owen F. Walker Professor of Humanities and Modern Culture and Media at Brown University, and heads the Black Visualities Initiative at Brown’s Cogut Institute for Humanities. In addition to the five books she has authored and edited, such as Listening to Images and A Black Gaze, Professor Campt is the lead convener of the Practicing Refusal Collective and the Sojourner Project. See, Hear, Do “Radical Composition” course materials: Saidiya Hartman, "." Small Axe 12, no. 2 (2008): 1-14. Flying Lotus, “,” dir. Kahlil Joseph (2012). Carrie Mae Weems, “” (2016). Jay-Z, “,” dir. Arthur Jafa (2017). Roy DeCarava and Langston Hughes, (First Print Press, 2018). Practicing Refusal Collective, (ongoing). Whitney Museum of American Art, “” (2022). Taylor DaFoe, “,” artnet news (March 29, 2022). Simone Leigh, , Official U.S. Presentation, 59th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, April 23–November 27, 2022. National Gallery of Art, , April 10–July 17, 2022. Tina M. Campt, fourth lecture in the series Image Complex: Art, Visuality & Power, University of Sydney (online lecture, October 19th, 2022, register ). /episode/index/show/aas21/id/23448359

A Painter’s Eye 04/08/2022

A Painter’s Eye Princeton AAS Podcast S2 E07 A Painter’s Eye In this episode, we sit down with the legendary historian and artist Nell Painter to discuss her career and its connections to Black Studies. From reckoning with historical figures as individuals, to her life and work at Princeton, to her own works-in-progress, this podcast has something for everyone. Our hosts dive deep into Painter’s legacy and the lessons she has for our present moment. The Culture of __ “,” PBS NewsHour, July 23, 2018 “,” GBH Forum Network, July 31, 2018 The Breakdown - Guest Info Nell Irvin Painter () Nell Irvin Painter is Edwards Professor of American History, Emerita at Princeton University. She was Director of Princeton's Program in African-American Studies from 1997 to 2000. In addition to her doctorate in history from Harvard University, she has received honorary doctorates from Wesleyan, Dartmouth, SUNY-New Paltz, and Yale. Prof. Painter has published numerous books, articles, reviews, and other essays, including The History of White People. She has served on numerous editorial boards and as an officer of many different professional organizations, including the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the American Antiquarian Society, the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History, and the Association of Black Women Historians. Nell Painter (the painter formerly known as the historian Nell Irvin Painter) lives and works in Newark, New Jersey. Her work carries discursive as well as visual meaning, and is made in a manual and digital process. Using found images and digital manipulation, she reconfigures the past and self-revision through self-portraits. After a life of historical truth and political engagement with American society, her artwork represents freedom, including the freedom to be totally self-centered. See, Hear, Do “” Princeton University Department of African American Studies, March 28, 2022 Nell Irvin Painter, (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2021 [2002]) Nell Painter, “,” James Fuentes Gallery, 2020 “,” Museum of Fine Arts Boston, November 15, 2021 “,” American Council of Learned Societies Annual Meeting, Friday, April 29, 2022 @ 6:00 PM EST (registration in link) /episode/index/show/aas21/id/22728389

Science Fictions: Race, Biology, and Superhumanity 03/04/2022

Science Fictions: Race, Biology, and Superhumanity On this podcast, we have addressed different dimensions of scientific racism from COVID-19 disparity data to the uses of human remains in anthropology. The Culture of... Jacque Smith and Cassie Spodak, “,” CNN, June 7, 2021 Ezra Turner, “” Teen Vogue, July 16, 2021 The Breakdown - Guest Info (Photo credit: Becca Skinner / ) Shane Campbell-Staton () Shane Campbell-Staton is an Assistant Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University. He comes to us from UCLA where he was jointly appointed in the Institute for Society and Genetics. His research group focuses on evolution in the Anthropocene, studying animal performance, gene expression and genomics to understand the lasting biological impacts of our human footprint. In addition to his scientific work, Shane hosts the popular podcast “,” with Arien Darby. (Photo credit: Princeton University) Ayah Nuriddin () Ayah Nuriddin is a Cotsen Postdoctoral Fellow in Princeton’s Society of Fellows, as well as a lecturer in the Council of Humanities and African American Studies. She holds a Ph.D. in the History of Medicine from Johns Hopkins University. Ayah’s work shows how African Americans have navigated questions of racial science, eugenics, and hereditarianism in relation to struggles for racial justice since the nineteenth century. She is also interested in how race and scientific racism shape discourses and activism around health inequality. Ayah is working on a book manuscript, “Seed and Soil: Black Eugenic Thought in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries” and teaches courses at Princeton like “Beyond Tuskegee: Race and Human Subjects Research in US History.” See, Hear, Do Shane Cambpell-Staton and Arien Darby, Ayah Nuriddin, “African Americans and Eugenics,” C-SPAN American History TV, January 5, 2018 Terence Keel, (Stanford University Press, 2018) PBS: American Experience, , October 16, 2018 Alexander Glustrom, (Fire River Films, 2020) /episode/index/show/aas21/id/22337915