York College to host talk on global African diaspora on Oct. 21

Cultural anthropologist and documentary filmmaker Sheila S. Walker will discuss "The Global African Diaspora" at 7 p.m., Oct. 21, in Weinstock Lecture Hall, Willman Business Center. Walker is serving as a 2019-20 Council of Independent Colleges Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow. Her talk is open to the public free of charge.

Walker has done fieldwork, lectured, and participated in cultural events in most of Africa and the global African diaspora. She currently serves as executive director of Afrodiaspora, Inc., with the goal to share her experiences and knowledge of the global African diaspora.

Walker’s book "African Roots/American Cultures: Africa in the Creation of the Americas" and companion documentary "Scattered Africa: Faces and Voices of the African Diaspora" are based on her international conference on “The African Diaspora and the Modern World.” Her book, "Knowledge from the Inside: Afro-South Americans Speak of their People and their Histories" (in Spanish and Portuguese), features chapters by Afrodescendants from all the Spanish-speaking countries in South America. Her most recent documentary is "Familiar Faces/Unexpected Places: A Global African Diaspora."

Walker previously was professor of anthropology and director of the Center for African and African American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and professor of anthropology and director of the African Diaspora and the World program at Spelman College. She teaches in English, Portuguese, French, and Spanish.