Identity and the Environment in pre-modern Race-craft
An Interactive Workshop by Dr. Molly Jones-Lewis
Monday, March 11, 2024 · 12 - 1 PM
The world before the Atlantic slave trade was one of great diversity, cooperation, and conflict where people negotiated complicated webs of identity and belonging. It was also one with several models for race - a process of categorizing people into groups with differing levels of inclusion and exclusion. A particularly durable idea, present from the 6th century BCE and dominant into the early modern period, is that of environmental determinism: people are shaped by the land they inhabit and external conditions create human difference. In this workshop, led by Dr. Molly Jones-Lewis of Ancient Studies, participants will explore this early form of "scientific" racecraft and its legacy and think through the ways we still map people into the landscape.