Dr. Shantelle George, SUNY Oreonta, will present a lecture as part of the Atlantic History Seminar series.

Thursday, November 2, 2017
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
6275 Bunche Hall
History Conference Room
Los Angeles, CA 90095

The kola nut, through transatlantic trading networks, was transferred from western Africa to the Americas from the fifteenth century. During the late nineteenth century, an export trade was established from the British Caribbean to North America and Europe. Using archival material, Dr. George's paper will trace the movement of the nut between these sites. It will also explore how the meanings and uses of kola have been transformed over time and space, including its role in recreating African-inspired religious beliefs and practices in the Caribbean and its demand in Europe and North America as a drug and tonic. By examining the West African kola nut, Dr. George's paper will consider how the nut contributes to existing studies on the exchange, production and consumption of commodities and its impact on religion and medicine in the Atlantic world.

Dr. George is a Dissertation Fellow in the Africana & Latino Studies and History Departments (2016-2018), SUNY Oreonta; and earned her Ph.D. at the  Department of History at the School of African & Oriental Studies (SOAS), University of London.

Cost : Free and open to the public; pay-by-space and all-day ($12) parking available in lot 3.

http://www.international.ucla.edu/africa

Download file: Shantelle-George-flyer-11-2-17-oo-0jd.pdf

Sponsor(s): African Studies Center, Department of History, Caribbean Studies in the Latin American Institute