Notes of an Aríran
Curriculum Vitae
MARIA HAMILTON ABEGUNDE
maehamil@indiana.edu
SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS
Education
Ph.D., African American and African Diaspora Studies, 2014, Indiana University
Minor: Memory Studies
Dissertation: The Ariran’s Last Life
Examination Fields: African American and African Diaspora Studies, African American Literature, Memory Studies
Doctoral Adviser: John McCluskey, Jr.
M.A. with distinction, Women’s and Gender Studies, 2009, DePaul University
Thesis: When the Past Becomes [the] Present: A Personal Encounter with Memory Work
Thesis Adviser: Sandra Jackson
Certificate, African Studies, Summer 2004, Northeastern Illinois University
African Studies Graduate Institute
B.A., English, 1987, Northwestern University
Concentration:Fiction Writing
Study Abroad, 1984-1985, University of Sussex, Great Britain
Concentration:African and Asian Studies
Birth Doula (2013), Bloomington Area Birth Services
Instructors: Georg’ann Cattelona, Ph.D., LCCE, CD (DONA) and Molly Mendota, CLS, LCCE, CD (DONA)
Postpartum Doula (2014), Bloomington Area Birth Services
Instructor: Debby Young, CD (DONA), PCD (DONA), LCCE
Undoing Racism (2012)
Instructor(s): Michael Washington, Ph.D. and Raúl Quiñones Rosado, Ph.D.
Community Grief and Healing (2002)
Instructor: Sobonfu Some
Community Grief and Healing (1998)
Instructor: Malidoma Some and Sobonfu Some
Employment History
Executive Assistant to Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction
Evanston-Skokie School District 65, Evanston, IL (1988-2009)
Administrative Assistant to the Director/Workshop Leader
Family Focus, Evanston, IL (1986-1987)
Academic Teaching Experience - Associate Instructor
Indiana University, Bloomington
Courses Designed and Taught
AAAD-A495: Individual Readings In African American Studies (Summer 2013)
AAAD-A210: Black Women in the African Diaspora (Summer 2013)
AAAD-A169: Introduction to African American Literature: Octavia Butler (2012-2013)
Discussion Groups Designed and Taught in Conjunction with Lectures
AAAD-A150: Survey of African American Culture (2010-2011)
Substitute Instructor for Department Chair
AAAD-A355: African American History 1600-1865 (October 11-25, 2012 TTh)
Invited Instructor (Single Topic Lecture)
AAAD-A278: Contemporary Black Film: Cleopatra Jones, Coffy, and Abby (June 2013)
AAAD-A203: Studying Blacks of the New World: Slavery, Memory, Healing (June 2013)
CMCL-C121: Public Speaking: Emotional Persuasion (November 2012)
AAAD-A169: Introduction to African American Literature: Migrations (April 2011)
REL-C-300: Religion and Race in Brazil (February 2011)
Middle Passage Voyage, Leg I - Puerto Rico to Brazil
Invited Lead Team Teacher (December 1998-February 1999)
· Ship: SS Sortilege.
· Captain: Bill Pinkney (Master of the Freedom Schooner, Amistad).
· Supervised three teachers.
· Liaison between subsequent teams and sponsors.
· Developed, delivered, and taught curricula related to the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Middle Passage, via satellite and video.
· Participants: over 100 K-12 schools, community organizations, and museums.
Field work
Itaparica Bahia, Brasil (December 2011-February 2012)
· Cultural Memory Practices in Egungun Society in Itaparica, Bahia, Brazil
· Purpose: To study and document egungun practices related to the creation, maintenance, and transmission of cultural memory.
· Research Questions: How do women function within the society? What is the role of the ancestors in transmitting knowledge? What is the role of the ancestor in healing the community?
· Interviewees: Lesser-known and studied elders in Candomble.
· Data: Formal and informal interviews, participatory research in espiritismo healing sessions at Venceslau, a recognized and protected natural reserve site of miracles, healing, and pilgrimage.
Perpignan, France (December 2010)
· A Consideration of Pierre Nora’s Realms of Memory at Local Sites of Memory.
· Purpose: To understand how embodied memories and emotions associated with them are directly linked to geography, time and space, and race and culture.
· Primary site focus: Alfred Nobel Dynamite Factory – A healing site birthed from destruction.
· Research Question(s): How do my experiences at these sites (and others in France and Spain) differ from my experiences with sites of memory related to slavery that I visited with UNESCO, and sites I visited in the Caribbean and Brazil?
· Data: Informal interviews; personal journal and travel log, brochures, videos, and over 800 photographs.
selected Publications [asterik indicates refereed publication]
The Ariran’s Last Life (early dissertation chapter excerpts)
*Best African American Fiction. Gerald Early and Nikki Giovanni, eds. 2010. New York: Ballantine Books. 3-20.
*The Kenyon Review. Winter 2008, Volume XXX, Number 1. 145-162.
*Margin Magazine: Exploring Modern Magical Realism. 2004. http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/margin/Hamilton.html
*Warpland. Qurayshi Ali Lansana, ed. 2003. Chicago: The Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing.
Essays
*Sankofa in Action: Creating a Plan That Works – Healing the Causes of Violence to Stop the Violence. Black Diaspora Review. Summer 2011. Indiana: Indiana University.
Selected Exhibitions/Productions
Ancestral Masquerades. Ongoing. Project Poet for LaShawnda Crowe Storm.
Be/Coming. Special invitation. 2013. Curated by Beth Shadur, Prairie State College.
*Collaborative Vision: The Poetic Dialogue Project: Be/Coming. 2009-2012. Special invitation to be project poet for artist LaShawnda Crowe Storm. Beth Shadur, Curator. Chicago Cultural Center, Indiana State Museum, Ball State University.
Creating Community, Movement, Foundations, Scholarship, Soul: 40 Years of Black Studies at Indiana University. 2010. Curator and Researcher. Special project assigned by department chair. Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. Indiana University.
The Divining. Theatrical Production of excerpts from The Ariran’s Last Life. Justin Merrick, director. 2010. Buskirk-Chumley Theatre. Indiana: JMUSE Productionz.
Selected Presentations (Invited)
Healing the Ancestral Way: Going Where Past and Present Lead. 2013. Indiana University Art Museum.
Dynamic Praxis: Memory, Cloth, Body, Text: Calling Egungun (the Bones) to Life. 2013. Herman C. Hudson Spring Colloquium. Indiana University.
The Ariran’s Last Life: The Healing Work of Memory. 2013. Art as a Vehicle for Change. In conjunction with The Lynch Quilts Project exhibition of the Laura Nelson Quilt. Indianapolis, IN.
Health and Healing: African-based Spirituality as a Method. Health First! A Health Fair for Women. Sponsored by A210-Black Women in the African Diaspora. Indiana University.
The Ariran’s Last Life: The Healing Work of Memory. 2012. John Hope Franklin Symposium, The Politics of Reconciliation. John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation.
What’s Love Got to Do with It: The Strength to Love in a Difficult World. 2011. Martin Luther King, Jr. Keynote Speaker, Hutton Honors College. Indiana University.
Sankofa in Action: Creating a Plan That Works - Healing the Causes of Violence to Stop the Violence. 2011. Herman C. Hudson Symposium. Indiana University.
The Life That Was My Own: Making Meaning of Memory When the Past Becomes [the] Present. Special Panel on Trauma and Memory. 2010. Modern Language Association. Rocky Mountain. New Mexico.
When the Past Becomes [the] Present: Remembering and Writing My Own Ancestral Past. 2010. Let Spirit Speak. City College of New York.
Rural Brasil and the Black Experience: Dreams Deferred – Itaparica, 2003-2005. 2010. Rural Studies Conference. Indiana University.
Be Not Afraid: Bringing the Ancestors into the Light. 2010. National Pan-Hellenic Council. Indiana University.
Occasional Standard Presentations
· Making Memory Matter
· Traditional African Religions: Contemporary Yoruba Ifa Practice
· What the Body Remembers
· Writing Poetry as a Path of Healing
Service
Academic
· Advisory Committee Member. Anti-Lynching Exhibition. Indiana University Art Museum (2012-2014)
· Department of African American and African Diaspora-Department of History Search Committee (2012)
· Program Chair. Herman C. Hudson Symposium. Indiana University (2011)
· Program Committee. Herman C. Hudson Symposium. Indiana University (2010)
· Creative Consultant, JMUSE [Theatre] Productionz, Indiana University (2009, 2010)
· Mentor: Support research, personal, and professional development of undergraduate and graduate students (2007-present)
Artistic
· Founding Member, Jane’s Stories Press Foundation
· Jane’s Stories Press Foundation Poetry Contest (2006)
· Norcroft Silent Residency for Women Selection Committee (2001)
· Rhino: The Poetry Forum
Community
Advisory Boards
· Jane’s Stories Press Foundation (2007-2009)
· Slavery and Civil War Museum, Selma, Alabama (2005-2007)
Birth and Postpartum Doula (present)
· Bloomington Area Birth Services/Blooming Families
Professional Memberships
· Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)
· The Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora (ASWAD)
· Cave Canem
· Jane’s Stories Press Foundation
· Modern Language Association (MLA)
· National Council for Black Studies (NCBS)
selected Featured Performances/Appearances/Interviews (Invited)
From Visual to Verse: An Evening of African American Poetry and Art. 2013. Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington.
Contemporary Black Poetry (AAAD-A479). 2013. Indiana University. Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies.
Tell Them Arroyo Sent You: A Middle Passage Voyage on Route to Brasil. 2011. WFHB, Interchange with William Morris.
Healing Mind and Body: A Memory Keeper Shares Her Story. 2010. WFHB, Interchange with William Morris”.
Voyages Home. 1999. (Emmy-award winning PBS documentary about the Middle Passage Voyage with Captain Bill Pinkney.)