User:ChRoseP22/Faye Harrison

Original version: Dr. Faye Venetia Harrison is an American anthropologist. Her research interests include political economy, power, diaspora, human rights, and the intersections of race, gender, and class. She is currently Professor of African American Studies and Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She formerly served as Joint Professor of Anthropology and African American Studies at the University of Florida. Harrison received her BA in Anthropology in 1974 from Brown University, and her MA and PhD in Anthropology from Stanford University in 1977 and 1982, respectively. As an undergraduate, she was a student of George Bass and Louise Lamphere. While at Stanford, she studied with St. Clair Drake and Bridget O’Laughlin, whom she credits as a major influence on her approach to anthropological and political anti-racist activism. As a student, she received funding from Fulbright-Hays (1978-79), the Wenner-Gren Foundation (1980-81), the Danforth Foundation (1981-82), and the Ford Foundation (1987-88). She has conducted research in the United States, United Kingdom, Cuba, and Jamaica.

From 1989 to 1991, Harrison served as President of the Association of Black Anthropologists (ABA). During her term with the ABA, she worked to ensure ABA presence at American Anthropological Association (AAA) conferences and commissions, and helped to establish the ABA’s journal Transforming Anthropology (first published in 1990). She served as President of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences from 2013 to 2018, a position that allowed her to collaborate with anthropologists around the world. She is an author and editor of Decolonizing Anthropology (1991,1997, 2010) and Outsider Within: Reworking Anthropology in the Global Age (2008), in addition to dozens of articles, encyclopedia entries, essays, book chapters, and reviews.

The Routledge Companion to Contemporary Anthropology describes the edited volume Decolonizing Anthropology as a "key moment of reinvention" for American anthropology, encouraging the re-centering of anthropological work by people of color. The authors included in the volume argue the necessity of directing the focus of anthropological work towards the advancement of global equality and human liberation, and outline the methodological, ethical, and political considerations this decolonized anthropology would require. In her introduction, Harrison emphasizes the importance of reading the work of intellectuals from the Global South and understanding the impact of the intersections of race, class, and gender on cultural consciousness and colonial discourse. The book was the result of the first invited session from the ABA at an AAA conference, given by Harrison and her colleague Angela Gilliam in 1987, which was also titled “Decolonizing Anthropology.” Harrison credits Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s book Decolonising the Mind as one source of inspiration for the session and, later, the volume.

Our edited version: (bolded and underlined portions are our edits)

Dr. Faye Venetia Harrison is an American anthropologist. Her research interests include political economy, power, diaspora, human rights, and the intersections of race, gender, and class. She is currently Professor of African American Studies and Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She formerly served as Joint Professor of Anthropology and African American Studies at the University of Florida. Harrison received her BA in Anthropology in 1974 from Brown University, and her MA and PhD in Anthropology from Stanford University in 1977 and 1982, respectively. While at Stanford, she studied with St. Clair Drake and Bridget O’Laughlin, (ADD TO EDUCATION PORTION) whom she credits as a major influence on her approach to anthropological and political anti-racist activism. (ADD TO EDUCATION PORTION)-->As a student, she received funding from Fulbright-Hays (1978-79), the Wenner-Gren Foundation (1980-81), the Danforth Foundation (1981-82), and the Ford Foundation (1987-88). She has conducted research in the United States, United Kingdom, Cuba, and Jamaica.

From 1989 to 1991, Harrison served as President of the Association of Black Anthropologists (ABA). During her term with the ABA, she worked to ensure ABA presence at American Anthropological Association (AAA) conferences and commissions, and helped to establish the ABA’s journal Transforming Anthropology (first published in 1990). She served as President of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences from 2013 to 2018, a position that allowed her to collaborate with anthropologists around the world. She is an author and editor of Decolonizing Anthropology (1991,1997, 2010) and Outsider Within: Reworking Anthropology in the Global Age (2008), in addition to dozens of articles, encyclopedia entries, essays, book chapters, and reviews.

The Routledge Companion to Contemporary Anthropology describes the edited volume Decolonizing Anthropology as a "key moment of reinvention" for American anthropology, encouraging the re-centering of anthropological work by people of color. The authors included in the volume argue the necessity of directing the focus of anthropological work towards the advancement of global equality and human liberation, and outline the methodological, ethical, and political considerations this decolonized anthropology would require. In her introduction, Harrison emphasizes the importance of reading the work of intellectuals from the Global South and understanding the impact of the intersections of race, class, and gender on cultural consciousness and colonial discourse. The book was the result of the first invited session from the ABA at an AAA conference, given by Harrison and her colleague Angela Gilliam in 1987, which was also titled “Decolonizing Anthropology.” Harrison credits Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s book Decolonising the Mind as one source of inspiration for the session and, later, the volume.

Personal Life

Faye V. Harrison is married to William Conwill. William Conwill has worked towards creating modes of mental health promotion and healing based upon antiracist and anti sexist frameworks. Additionally, Faye V. Harrison has three sons, Giles Harrison Conwill, Mondlane Harrison Conwill and Justin Harrison Conwill. Her eldest son, Giles, has followed in the footsteps of Harrison by pursuing a career in cultural anthropology

Faye Ventia Harrison
Born	(1951-11-25) November 25, 1951
Nationality	American
Occupations	Anthropologist Scholar Educator Writer
Spouse	William Conwill ​ ()​
Awards	Association of Black Anthropologists Legacy Scholar Award (2010) American Anthropological Association Presidential Award (2018)
Academic background
Education	Brown University (BA) Stanford University (MA) Stanford University (PhD)
Academic work
Discipline	Anthropology African American Studies African Diaspora Studies
Institutions	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Florida University of Tennessee

Education

Faye Harrison completed her undergraduate studies at Brown University in 1974, receiving a B.A. in Anthropology. While attending Brown University, Harrison was supported by professors Louise Lamphere and George Houston Bass. Louise Lamphere was integral in inspiring Harrison’s motivation to study Anthropology. George Houston Bass influenced Faye Harrison to appreciate and incorporate the art of performance within her academia.

Harrison continued her anthropological studies at Stanford University where she received a M.A. (1977) and Ph.D. (1982) in Anthropology. While studying at Stanford University, Harrison was deeply influenced by St. Claire Drake and his understanding of the relationship between anthropology and racial politics as well as the history of Black Anthropologists. Harrison has claimed that her ongoing goal of re-envisioning anthropology, as focused on in her book Outsider Within: Reworking Anthropology in the Global Age (2008), is “meant to extend his legacy as a teacher and role model.”

Career

Educator

2014-present: Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Professor of African American Studies & Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Harrison joined the University's Anthropology department in 2014 as a professor of African American Studies and Anthropology, as well as a faculty affiliate with the Program on Women & Gender in Global Perspectives, the Center for African Studies, and the Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies. Harrison is currently a professor at the University, in which she has made significant contributions towards the politics and history of anthropology along with African American and African Diaspora studies. She has taught courses at the University of Illinois in AFRO 597 Problems in African American Studies: Race & Racism, AFRO 415 Africana Feminisms, and AFRO 298 Black Lives Matter: Human Rights Perspectives.

As part of her teaching methodology, Harrison practices "anthro-performance", a combination of ethnography and performance. Harrison has utilized this methodology to dramatize the anthropological information she aims to share with her students' colleagues and the general public. A significant aspect that influenced Harrison’s decision to utilize “anthro-performance” was the demographics of Kentucky students whom she taught during the nineteen eighties. Harrison saw “anthro-performance” as a tool to effectively teach Kentucky working class and minority university students about Anthropology when standard textbooks and education were not enough. The positive support she garnered for her use of this methodology influenced her to continue to utilize “anthro-performance” as an additional resource in presenting anthropological teachings and ideas. Harrison has aimed to bridge anthropology with art as an alternative means of production, inspiring other diverse approaches to anthropology. A notable performance piece of Harrison's, “Three Women, One Struggle” (1990), utilizes performance to highlight how poor Black women experience common realities globally. Her performance touches upon race, class, gender, and commonalities between different cultures. Camee Maddox Wingfield, an academic at UMBC, provided an ABA 50th anniversary special commentary on Harrison’s use of “anthro-performance” stating, “Her “anthro-performance” pedagogical technique was an exciting intervention in that it challenged the elitist norms of teaching and learning in academic institutions with which minority and working-class students often struggle.”

2004-2014: Professor, University of Florida

While a professor at the University of Florida Harrison taught courses in the department of Anthropology. Harrison was also a professor of African American Studies. During an interview with the university, "the reputation and high caliber of the Anthropology department at the University", according to Harrison, was a major factor in her decision to teach there. Harrison thought the university was an "excellent place to train graduate students interested in the African diaspora and the intersections of race, gender, and class that shape sociocultural life and political practices".

Scholar

Harrison has been recognized for her academic leadership in addition to her achievements as an educator. Within anthropology, she writes about racism, structural violence, and gender. Harrison is the author of Outsider Within: Reworking Anthropology in the Global Age, as well as the editor and contributor to Resisting Racism and Xenophobia: Global Perspectives on Race, Gender, and Human Rights, African-American Pioneers of Anthropology (co-ed. ), and three editions of Decolonizing Anthropology: Moving Further Toward an Anthropology for Liberation. Afro-Descendants, Identity, and the Struggle for Development in the Americas; Transnational Blackness: Navigating the Global Color Line; Afro-Atlantic Dialogues: Anthropology in the Diaspora; and Blackness in Latin America and the Caribbean are among some of the anthologies to which she has participated. Just a few of her publications include Third World Women & the Politics of Feminism, Women Writing Culture, Situated Lives: Gender & Culture in Everyday Life, Gender & Globalization: Women Navigating Cultural & Economic Marginalities, perhaps most prominently Feminist Activist Ethnography.

Faye Harrison's edited volume Decolonizing Anthropology: Moving Further Toward an Anthropology for Liberation has curated a dialogue surrounding the re-assessment of the anthropological field and the necessity for greater contribution by people of color. Faye Harrison’s scholarly efforts in illuminating the phenomenon of Decolonizing Anthropology has led many scholars to incorporate this idea into their work and scholarly strategies. Her contribution to ideas surrounding decolonization have made scholars Jafari Sinclaire Allen and Ryan Cecil Jobson ask new questions such as, “Does decolonizing anthropology require institutional locations in which we may meet and engage in dialogue with more Black, brown, and working-class students?” and “How, then, can our practices of scholarship, undergraduate and graduate teaching, and administrative work serve the project of decolonization?” Some Black anthropological scholars have responded to decolonizing anthropology by exiting the field to pursue related programs. Additionally, the de-colonial project has influenced an increase in university approval of Black Studies programs including programs at University of California, Los Angeles, University of Pennsylvania and University of Texas-Austin.

Major Publications

• Harrison, F. V. (2011). Decolonizing anthropology: Moving further toward an anthropology for liberation. American Anthropological Association.
• Harrison, F. V. (2008). Outsider within: reworking anthropology in the global age. University of Illinois Press.
• Harrison, I. E., & Harrison, F. V. (Eds.). (1999). African-American pioneers in anthropology. University of Illinois Press.
• Harrison, F. V. (1995). The persistent power of" race" in the cultural and political economy of racism. Annual Review of Anthropology, 24(1), 47-74.

Affiliations

Faye Harrison has held many scholarly leadership and membership positions throughout her lifetime. She is the former president of the Association of Black Anthropologists (1989-1991). She served on the Executive Board of the American Anthropological Association from 1990 to 1991 and 1999 to 2001. From 1999 to 2002, Harrison was an Advisory Board member for a PBS film, “Race–The Genealogy of an Illusion.” From 2001 to 2007, Harrison was an advisory board member for the American Anthropological Association's "Understanding Race and Human Variability” initiative. She served two terms as an Executive Committee Member for the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (2003-2013). She also chaired the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences' Commission on the Anthropology of Women from 1993 to 2009. From 2013 to 2018, Harrison was the President of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences. She was the first African American and second woman to hold the presidency of the IUAES.

Harrison has also held editorial board member roles including her editorial board membership to Fire!!! The Multi-Media Journal on Black Studies (2011), an advisory editorial board membership to Anthropological Theory (2014-2020), as well as an editorial board membership to American Anthropologist (2000-2005, 2016-2020).

Awards and Honors

2011-2021

The Florida Education Fund granted Harrison the William R. Jones Most Valuable Mentor Award in 2013. In 2018, Harrison received the Presidential Award from the American Anthropological Association. Also in 2018, the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences granted her the Distinguished Service Award.

2000-2010

From 2002 to 2004, Harrison completed a Lindsay Young Professorship in the Humanities, College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Tennessee. Harrison received the Hardy Liston, Jr. Symbol of Hope Award in 2003. In 2004, Harrison received the Society for the Anthropology of North America Prize for Distinguished Achievement in the Critical Study of North America. In 2007, the Southern Anthropological Society awarded Harrison the inaugural Zora Neale Hurston Award for Mentoring, Service & Scholarship. Also in 2007, Harrison received the President's Award from the American Anthropological Association. The Association of Black Anthropologists awarded Harrison the Legacy Scholar Award in 2010.

1970-2000

After receiving her bachelors degree from Brown University, Harrison was granted the Samuel T. Arnold Fellowship to continue graduate level research from 1974 to 1975. From 1978 to 1979, Harrison completed a pre-doctoral Fullbright-Hays fellowship. In 1989, University of Louisville awarded Harrison the Certificate of Achievement for Commitment to Scholarship and Research.