Research Focus Group Talk: Reclaiming Confiscated African Histories

Zoom attendance link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/s/81168927411

How do histories of a people get confiscated? And what is the significance of indigenous epistemologies in reclaiming stolen, silent, and distorted histories? These are some of the fundamental questions that underlie Professor Shadreck Chirikure’s research on Great Zimbabwe, a prominent symbol of African civilizations of Southern Africa that colonial historiography tried very hard to wrest away from Africans over the last two centuries. Professor Chirikure has produced several publications from his archaeological work at Great Zimbabwe and related sites, including his recent book, Great Zimbabwe: Reclaiming a “Confiscated” Past. We welcome him to UCSB to speak to us about this significant book.

Professor Chirikure holds a British Academy Global Professorship within the School of Archaeology at Oxford. He is Professor of Archaeology, Director of the Archaeological Materials Laboratory, Director of the African Heritage Hub and Research Centre, and a former Head of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cape Town.

Co-sponsored by the IHC African Studies Research Focus Group and the Africa Center