Class Members
Isabella Clarke
Isabella is a freshman at Brown University and is planning to study Psychology with the intention of attending law school after undergrad. She is from Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and spends her free time listening to music and hiking.
Nélari Figueroa Torres
Nélari is a writer, editor, black coffee drinker, and current undergraduate student at Brown University studying English and Africana Studies.
Asya Gipson
Asya is a novice filmmaker, novice writer, novice embroiderer, and perpetual hobbyist. She is a sophomore at Brown Univeristy currently developing an independent concentration focused on race, alterity, and speculative fiction in the arts. She was born and raised in Alaska, so when she’s not outside hiking, you can probably find her boasting that “it’s not that cold.”
Bryce Jacobs
Bryce is a sophomore at Brown University, where he hopes to study biochemistry but also enjoys taking history and Spanish classes. Outside of academics, he enjoys playing the cello, playing ultimate frisbee, running, and listening to music.
Edan Larkin
Edan is from Hingham, Massachusetts, and a senior at Brown University, where she studies History and Classics. She is currently writing her senior thesis in the History Department on the First Pandemic of Yersinia pestis in Italy from 542-750 CE. In her free time, she enjoys reading, listening to music, and frequenting coffee shops.
Christina Miles
Christina is a sophomore at Brown University studying Archaeological Anthropology, where they hope to focus on mortuary politics in the African diaspora. They are currently pursuing an Independent Concentration in archival sciences and sociolinguistics. When they are not visiting museums, they are either writing slam poetry or watching The West Wing.
Adrian Oteiza
Adrian is a junior at Brown University where he studies Literary Arts. In his free time he enjoys writing poetry, playing frisbee, and exploring the city of Providence.
Dana Richie
Dana is a sophomore at Brown University studying History specifically interested in revolutions, political movements, and coalition building. She loves writing, photography, and going on long walks around Providence.
Sophia Siegel
Sophia is a senior at Brown University from Stuart, Florida. She is the founder of Zoa Rose, a luxury cannabis accessories company. When she’s not working, she’s singing, exercising, reading, or swimming in the ocean.
Katelyn Starks
Katelyn is a senior at Brown University from Nashville, TN. She studies Economics and Africana Studies. Outside of classes, Katelyn enjoys hosting workshops and service events with her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
Sylvie Watts
Sylvie is a freshman at Brown University and is planning to study History and Computer Science. She is from New York City and in her free time enjoys playing or watching soccer.
Ben Zimmerman
Ben is a senior at Brown University, where he focuses on Philosophy and German. From time to time, he plays mandolin and guitar in the University’s Old-Time String Band.
Professor Renee Ater, Visiting Professor, Africana Studies
Dr. Ater is a public scholar who works at the intersection of art and history. Her research focuses on monuments, memory, race, and public space. Currently, Dr. Ater is revising her Omeka project, Contemporary Monuments to the Slave Past, and writing a digital publication entitled Memoryscapes of Slavery in collaboration with the Brown University Digital Publications at Brown University.
Brianna Eaton, Teaching Assistant
Brianna Eaton earned a B.A. in Film and Media Studies and Black Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a M.A. in Cinema Studies from New York University. Her research focuses on critical race theory, Black feminist theory, African Diasporic history, and media criticism. She explores how film, when in the hands of Black filmmakers, disrupts, reinforces, and negotiates with the institutional forces of White supremacy and analyzes the creation of Blackness as art, as entertainment, and as a commercial enterprise.