Guest Lectures

Keynotes, Invited Lectures, and Seminars

“Intersectionality and Ethnography” (An invited conference lecture given at the conference, “Rethinking Space,” Bard College, New York. October 13, 2023).

“Person-Centered Ethnography as Oral History Project Conceptualization: Indexing Inconsistencies Between Private Lived Realities and Public Racial Expectations” (A virtual roundtable given at the Advanced Oral History Institute, U.C. Berkeley. Berkeley, CA. August, 2023).

“Indigenous Economies and New World Culture Change” (An invited virtual keynote given at the 6^th Annual Search for Indigenous America Conference. 2023, University of Pardubice, Czech Republic. February 27-28, 2023).

“Using Person-Centered Ethnography in Oral History Project Conceptualization: Indexing the Inconsistencies Between Identification and Recognition” (A roundtable given at the Advanced Oral History Institute, U.C. Berkeley. Berkeley, CA. August 10, 2022).

“The Relevance of Juneteenth to African-Native Americans"(An invited lecture given at the inaugural CSU Juneteenth Symposium, Los Angeles, CA, June 16, 2022).

“Kinship and Slavery: Shared Kinship Systems of Enslaved Africans and Native Americans."(An invited lecture given at the Colloquium Americanum at the Institute for Ethnology at Goethe University at Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt, Germany, sponsored by the Institute for Ethnology, June 9, 2022).

“Using Person-Centered Ethnography in Oral History Project Conceptualization" (A roundtable given at the Advanced Oral History Institute, U.C. Berkeley. Berkeley, CA. August 11, 2021).

"Authors in Conversation: I've Been Here All the While: Black Freedom on Native Land by Alaina E. Roberts in Conversation with Professor Robert Keith Collins" (A discussion with Dr. Alaina E. Roberts (University of Pittsburgh) at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MOAD): Smithsonian Affiliate. San Francisco, CA. May 11, 2021). 

"Afro-Native Identities" (A discussion with Unresevered. April 23, 2021).

“Person-Centered Ethnography and Oral History Project Conceptualization” (A roundtable given at the Advanced Oral History Institute, U.C. Berkeley. Berkeley, CA. August 11, 2020).

“Red and Black on Turtle Island: Community Dialogue on AfroNative Identities and Solidarities” (An invited guest lecture with Professor Emeritus Dr. John Brown Childs given virtually at U.C. Santa Cruz. April 29, 2020). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d52T58vMw-M.

“The Relevance of Person-Centered Ethnography to Oral History Project Conceptualization” (A roundtable given at the Advanced Oral History Institute, U.C. Berkeley. Berkeley, CA. August 6, 2019).

“Indigenous Economies and New World Culture Change” (An invited keynote given at the American Indian Workshops 2019, Poznan, Poland. July 10, 2019).

“Displaying Native American Cultural Impact in the U.S.: Cultural Diffusion in a Smithsonian Exhibit. A invited keynote lecture given at the, Frankfurt, Germany, sponsored by the Institute for Ethnology, June 18, 2019).

“Person-Centered Ethnography as Oral History Project Conceptualization” (A roundtable given at the Advanced Oral History Institute, U.C. Berkeley. Berkeley, CA. August 7, 2018).

"The Relevance of American Indians Studies to the African Diaspora," an invited Mellon Seminar at the Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery of the Schomburg Center.  New York, NY. July 2, 2018). 

“Using Person-Centered Ethnography as Project Conceptualization Resource” (A roundtable given at the Advanced Oral History Institute, U.C. Berkeley. Berkeley, CA. August 16, 2017).

"American Indians Studies and Studying the African Diaspora," an invited Mellon Seminar at the Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery of the Schomburg Center.  New York, NY. July 1, 2017). 

"Galvanized in Defense of Liberty: African Americans and Native Americans in World War I." (An invited lecture given at the History Museum of Sonoma County, Santa Rosa, CA. May 4, 2017).

“Person-Centered Ethnography as Oral History Project Conceptualization” (A roundtable given at the Advanced Oral History Institute, U.C. Berkeley. Berkeley, CA. August 16, 2016).

"Black Indians Lives of the Past and Present: A Dialogue." (A discussion with Dr. Tiya Miles (University of Michigan) at the Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery of the Schomburg Center.  New York, NY. April 21, 2016).  (Note: Please click on the title to view the dialogue.)

“Memories of Enslaved American Indians: A Case Study of WPA Slave Narratives.” (An invited lecture given at San Diego State University, San Diego, California, sponsored by the departments of American Indian Studies and Africana Studies for Native American History Month, November 23, 2015).

“Displaying Native American Cultural Impact in the U.S.: Cultural Diffusion in a Smithsonian Exhibit. An invited lecture given at the Colloquium Americanum at the Institute for Ethnology at Goethe University at Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt, Germany, sponsored by the Institute for Ethnology, June 18, 2015).

“Person-Centered Ethnography: A Discussion of Anthropology to Oral History Project Conceptualization” (A roundtable given at the Advanced Oral History Institute, U.C. Berkeley. Berkeley, CA. August 11, 2015).

“The IndiVisible Legacy of Jack Forbes in Native American Studies: An Introduction.” (An invited keynote to introduce the hosting of “IndiVisible: African-Native American Lives in the Americas” at the University of California, at Davis, Davis, California, sponsored by the departments of Native American and Indigenous Studies and African and African American Studies, November 14, 2014). 

“The Dynamics of African Cultural Change in Native America: Evidence of Transculturalization in a Smithsonian Exhibit.” (An invited lecture series given at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, sponsored by the departments of African American & Diasporic Studies and American Studies, October 1-3, 2014).

“Person-Centered Ethnography: A Discussion of Relevance to the Life Cycle of the Interview” (A workshop panel presentation given at the Advanced Oral History Institute, U.C. Berkeley. Berkeley, CA. August 2014).

“Displaying What Is a Black Indian: Evidence of Native American Transculturalization of Africans in a Smithsonian Exhibit” (A guest lecture given at the University of Graz, Austria sponsored by the Center for Inter-American Studies (C.IAS), University of Graz. Graz, Austria, May 28, 2014).

“Open Access Publications and Research In Relation to Native American/First Nations Studies.” (An NWO sponsored panel chaired at the American Indian Workshop at Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands, May 25, 2014).

Conference Panels and Presentations

“Anti-Blackness and the Law in the Making of Jim Crow” (A panel chaired, at the Rights and Wrongs: A Constitution and Citizenship Day Conference at San Francisco State University, September 18-19, 2023.  

“Unsettling Museum Exhibits: International Prospects for Paradigm Shifts in Native Community Collaborations.” (A panel co-chaired with Alaka Wali, PhD, Curator Emeritus of North American Anthropology, Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois  at the American Anthropological Association Meeting, Seattle, Washington, November, 2022).

“Blood and Eugenics as Indian Removal: Perspectives on Current Problems in African-Native American Research”  (A roundtable chaired at the American Indian Workshop on “Norther Perspectives, Native Americans in World War II and Current Research at the University of Luxembourg, June 1-4, 2022.

“Native North Americans and Museums: International Perspectives and Collaborative Prospects” (A roundtable co-chaired with Markus Lindner, PhD, Goethe University, at the American Indian Workshop on “Norther Perspectives, Native Americans in World War II and Current Research at the University of Luxembourg, June 1-4, 2022.

“Native Americans and Museums: International Perspectives and Collaborative Prospects.” (A roundtable discussion chaired at the American Anthropological Association Meeting, Baltimore, MD, November 19, 2021).

“The Impact of American Indians on European Cultures: Evidence from the Anthropological Record” (A paper presented on a panel titled “From Homelands to Empires and Everywhere in Between: North American Indigenous Border Crossings, Cultural Exchanges, and Contemporary Considerations” at the conference “Indigenous Mobilities: Travelers through the Heart(s) of Empire,” Paris, France, June, 17, 2021).

“Native Americans and Museums: International Perspectives and Collaborative Prospects” (A roundtable chaired at the virtual conference of the American Indian Workshop on “Indigenous Shapes of Water & Current Research” at Ludwig Maximilians Universitat Munchen, November 25, 2020).

“Changing Climate, Shifting Terrains: Indigenizing Museums” (A roundtable discussion at the American Anthropological Association Meeting, Vancouver, BC, November 21, 2019).

“Narratives of Valor: American Indians and World War I” (A paper presented on a panel entitled “Remebering the Past” at the American Indian Workshop at the University of Ghent, Belgium, April, 2018).

“Arrows of Racism: From Past to Present” (A panel chaired at the American Indian Workshop at the University of Ghent, Belgium, April, 2018).

“Displaying Collaboration: Reproducing the Anthropology of African and Native American Relations in a Smithsonian Exhibit.” (An invited paper presented on a panel titled “Legacies of Race and Space” at the American Anthropological Association Meeting, Washington, DC, November, 2017).

“Afro-Indigenous Relations Across the Americas, 1492-present.” (A panel chaired at the American Historical Association, Denver, CO, January, 2017). 

“Discovering WPA Slave Narratives as Evidence of Shared African and Native American Enslavement” (An invited paper presented on a panel titled “The Art of Identity: (Re) Constructing Blackness in Music, Film, TV, and the Internet” at the American Anthropological Association Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, December, 2016).

“Cherokee Humor and U.S. Common Sense: The Impact of Will Rogers.” (A paper presented on a panel entitled “Staging Humor” at the American Indian Workshop at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark, May, 2016).

“Art and Humor” (A panel chaired at the American Indian Workshop at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark, May, 2016).

“Native Knowledge and Self-Representation.” (A panel chaired at the American Indian Workshop at Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, March, 2015).

“Motive, Native Knowledge, and African-Native American Self-Understanding: Life History Evidence from a Smithsonian Exhibit.” (A paper presented at the American Indian Workshop at Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, March, 2015).

“Displaying Collaboration: Reproducing the Anthropology of African and Native American Relations in a Smithsonian Exhibit.” (An invited paper presented on a panel titled “Legacies of Race and Space” at the American Anthropological Association Meeting, Washington, DC, December 2014).

“Displaying Tranculturalization in the Americas” Inter-American Ethnographic Evidence From A Smithsonian Exhibit” (An invited paper presented at the International Association for Inter-American Studies Conference, Lima, Peru, August 2014).

“The Directive Force of Narrative in an Urban Garifuna Community: Ethno-linguistic Evidence from a Smithsonian Exhibit.” (A paper presented at the American Indian Workshop at Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands, May 2014).