Faye V. Harrison facts for kids

Dr. Faye Venetia Harrison is an American anthropologist. An anthropologist is a scientist who studies humans, their societies, cultures, and how they live. Dr. Harrison is especially interested in how different groups of people live, how power works in societies, and how things like race, gender, and social class affect people's lives. She also studies human rights and how people from different parts of the world connect.

She is currently a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, teaching about African American Studies and Anthropology. Before this, she taught at the University of Florida. Dr. Harrison earned her first degree (BA) in Anthropology from Brown University in 1974. She then went on to get her master's (MA) and doctorate (PhD) degrees in Anthropology from Stanford University in 1977 and 1982. She has done research in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Jamaica, and has also visited Cuba, South Africa, and Japan for her studies.

From 1989 to 1991, Dr. Harrison was the president of the Association of Black Anthropologists (ABA). During her time as president, she helped make sure the ABA was part of bigger conferences and helped start their journal, Transforming Anthropology. She also led the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences from 2013 to 2018, which allowed her to work with anthropologists from all over the world. Dr. Harrison has written and edited important books like Decolonizing Anthropology and Outsider Within: Reworking Anthropology in the Global Age.

Her book Decolonizing Anthropology is seen as a very important step in making anthropology more fair and open. It encouraged more people of color to contribute to the field. The book talks about how anthropology should focus on helping achieve fairness and freedom for everyone around the world. It also explains how important it is to learn from thinkers in the Global South (countries often seen as developing) and understand how race, class, and gender shape our understanding of the world.

Her Journey in Education

Faye Harrison started her university studies at Brown University in 1974. She earned her first degree, a Bachelor of Arts (BA), in Anthropology. While at Brown, her professors Louise Lamphere and George Houston Bass greatly supported her. Louise Lamphere inspired her to study anthropology, and George Houston Bass encouraged her to use performance in her academic work.

After Brown, Dr. Harrison received a special scholarship called the Samuel T. Arnold Fellowship. This helped her continue her studies at Stanford University. At Stanford, she earned her Master of Arts (MA) degree in 1977 and her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1982. She also received support from several important foundations like Fulbright-Hays, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Danforth Foundation, and the Ford Foundation.

At Stanford, she learned from professors like St. Clair Drake and Bridget O’Laughlin. They taught her a lot about how anthropology connects to fighting racism and injustice. Dr. Harrison was especially inspired by St. Clair Drake's ideas about anthropology and racial politics, and the history of Black anthropologists. She has said that one of her main goals in rethinking anthropology, as discussed in her book Outsider Within, is to continue his important work.

Her Career as an Educator

Dr. Faye Harrison has had a long and impactful career teaching at several universities.

Early Teaching Roles

• 1983-1989: Assistant Professor at the University of Louisville.
• 1989-1997: Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
• 1996-1998: Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Binghamton, State University of New York (SUNY).
• 1997-1999: Professor of Anthropology and Graduate Director of the Women's Studies Program at the University of South Carolina-Columbia.
• 1999-2004: Professor of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

University of Florida

• 2004-2014: Professor of African American Studies and Anthropology at the University of Florida. She was also connected to the Center for Latin American Studies and the Center for Women’s Studies & Gender Research.

Dr. Harrison chose to teach at the University of Florida because of its strong Anthropology department. She believed it was a great place to teach students interested in the African diaspora (people of African descent living outside of Africa) and how race, gender, and social class shape lives and politics.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• 2014–present: Professor of African American Studies and Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

At the University of Illinois, Dr. Harrison teaches courses on important topics in African American Studies, Africana Feminisms (feminist ideas from African perspectives), and Human Rights from different cultural viewpoints. She has made big contributions to the study of anthropology's history and politics, as well as African American and African Diaspora studies.

Anthro-Performance: Bringing Anthropology to Life

Dr. Harrison uses a unique teaching method called "anthro-performance." This combines ethnography (studying cultures by living among them) with performance art. She uses this method to act out anthropological information for her students and the public. This helps make complex ideas easier to understand and shows how anthropology can connect with art.

One of her famous performances, “Three Women, One Struggle” (1990), used performance to show how poor Black women around the world share similar experiences. It explored themes of race, class, and gender across different cultures. An academic named Camee Maddox Wingfield praised Dr. Harrison's "anthro-performance" for challenging traditional, sometimes strict, ways of teaching in universities. This method made learning more accessible for students from minority and working-class backgrounds.

Her Work as a Scholar

Dr. Harrison is also highly respected for her academic writing and research. She writes about important issues like racism, structural violence (harm caused by unfair social structures), and gender in anthropology.

She is the author of Outsider Within: Reworking Anthropology in the Global Age. She also edited and contributed to other significant books, including Resisting Racism and Xenophobia: Global Perspectives on Race, Gender, and Human Rights, African-American Pioneers of Anthropology, and three editions of Decolonizing Anthropology: Moving Further Toward an Anthropology for Liberation. Her work is also featured in many other important collections about feminist studies and African diaspora studies.

Decolonizing Anthropology

Dr. Faye Harrison's edited book, Decolonizing Anthropology: Moving Further Toward an Anthropology for Liberation, has created a big discussion about how to improve the field of anthropology. It highlights the need for more contributions from people of color. Her ideas about "decolonizing" anthropology have inspired many other scholars to think about how they do their own work.

This idea has led scholars to ask new questions, such as: "Does decolonizing anthropology mean we need more Black, brown, and working-class students in our programs?" and "How can our teaching and research help with this decolonization project?" Some Black anthropologists have even left the field to pursue related studies. This decolonization movement has also led to more universities approving Black Studies programs, including at places like University of California, Los Angeles, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Texas-Austin.

Awards and Recognition

Dr. Harrison has received many awards for her important contributions to anthropology and education:

• 2003: Hardy Liston, Jr. Symbol of Hope Award.
• 2004: Society for the Anthropology of North America (SANA) Prize for Distinguished Achievement in the Critical Study of North America.
• 2007: Zora Neale Hurston Award for Mentoring, Service & Scholarship; Southern Anthropological Society.
• 2007: President’s Award, American Anthropological Association.
• 2010: Legacy Scholar Award, Association of Black Anthropologists.
• 2013: William R. Jones Outstanding Mentor Award, Florida Education Fund.
• 2018: President’s Award, American Anthropological Association.
• 2018: Distinguished Service Award, International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences.

Leadership and Affiliations

Dr. Faye Harrison has held many important leadership roles in academic organizations:

• She was the president of the Association of Black Anthropologists (1989-1991).
• She served on the Executive Board of the American Anthropological Association (1990-1991 and 1999-2001).
• She was an advisory board member for a PBS film called “Race–The Genealogy of an Illusion” (1999-2002).
• She advised the American Anthropological Association's "Understanding Race and Human Variability” project (2001-2007).
• She was an Executive Committee Member for the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (2003-2013).
• She also led the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences' Commission on the Anthropology of Women (1993-2009).
• From 2013 to 2018, Dr. Harrison was the President of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences. She was the first African American and only the second woman to hold this important position.

Dr. Harrison has also been on the editorial boards of several academic journals, including Fire!!! The Multi-Media Journal on Black Studies, Anthropological Theory, and American Anthropologist.

Key Publications

Here are some of Dr. Harrison's most important works:

Decolonizing Anthropology: Moving Further Toward an Anthropology for Liberation (1991)

This book is part of a larger effort to change and rebuild anthropology. It aims to create a field of study that focuses on the diversity and similarities of people. The writers in this book explain why anthropologists should look closely at power structures and question the way academia works. This book shows the benefits of a "decolonized" anthropology, which should be explored more. It focuses on using different ways of collecting information and analyzing cultures to help us better understand harmony between cultures and global change. The authors argue that anthropologists should investigate how power and privilege work in societies, including modern industrial ones.

"The Persistent Power of 'Race' in the Cultural and Political Economy of Racism" (1995)

This article shows how anthropology has played a big role in shaping our understanding of "race," both as an idea and as a social reality. While some anthropologists have tried to move away from the biological idea of race, focusing instead on differences based on ethnicity, Dr. Harrison points out that this can sometimes overlook the ongoing and harmful effects of racism. She highlights that anthropologists have become more interested in the hidden causes and practices of racial inequality. New research looks at how race is still important in modern society, how ethnic conflicts become racialized, and how different ideas about race exist around the world.

African-American Pioneers in Anthropology (1999)

Co-edited by Dr. Harrison, this book is a collection of stories about thirteen early African-American scholars who became anthropologists between 1920 and 1955. It highlights their achievements and the challenges they faced, often due to racism. The book describes their careers both inside and outside of anthropology, as well as the ideas and methods they developed. This book is valuable for anyone interested in African-American studies, biographies, and anthropology.

Outsider Within: Reworking Anthropology in the Global Age (2008)

Outsider Within offers a path for carefully rebuilding anthropology to address gender and race issues in today's world. Dr. Faye V. Harrison suggests nine key ways to improve the profession. These include doing research ethically, encouraging more diversity within anthropology, rethinking concepts, and contributing to important global discussions. Dr. Harrison looks at the challenges and opportunities in anthropology from her own perspective as an African American woman. She also sees common ground between people despite their social, cultural, and ideological differences. She encourages anthropologists from all backgrounds to work together to overcome barriers and have meaningful conversations.

Personal Life

Faye V. Harrison is married to William Conwill. William Conwill has worked to create ways to promote mental health and healing that challenge racism and sexism. Dr. Faye V. Harrison also has three sons: Giles, Mondlane, and Justin. Her oldest son, Giles, has followed in her footsteps by earning his PhD in cultural anthropology.