Speaker
Christen Smith (Anthropology and Black Studies, Yale University) is a Black feminist and African diaspora anthropologist whose work explores the multi-sided dimensions of race, gender, violence, performance and Blackness in the Americas. Her research and writing are two-pronged. She studies the transnational, gendered politics of anti-Black state violence in Brazil and the Americas, particularly regarding policing; and Black women’s intellectual contributions to the Americas, especially related to transnational Black feminism. In 2017, Smith started “Cite Black Women,” a transnational initiative that brings awareness to society’s gross tendency to ignore and not to cite Black women’s intellectual contributions inside and outside of the academy.
Smith is an associate editor of Transforming Anthropology, the journal of the Association of Black Anthropologists. She teaches courses on African diaspora anthropology; gender, race, violence and embodiment; global Black feminisms; and violence, trauma, and memory.