Elena Sesma

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  • Assistant Professor
  • Anthropology
  • Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies
  • African American and Africana Studies
elenasesma@uky.edu
216 Lafferty Hall, Office hours Tuesdays 3:30-4:30pm or by appointment
859 257 1051
PDF icon ElenaSesma_CV_Fall2020.pdf
Research Interests:
  • historical archaeology
  • cultural heritage; collective memory
  • archaeological ethnography
  • public and community archaeology
  • African Diaspora
  • The Bahamas
  • slavery and emancipation
Education

Ph.D 2019 University of Massachusetts Amherst, Anthropology. PhD, "The Political Work of Memory in Collaborative Caribbean Archaeology."

M.A. 2014 University of Massachusetts Amherst, Anthropology. M.A., "Creating Mindful Heritage Narratives: Black Women in Slavery and Freedom"

B.A. 2011 University of Maryland, College Park.

Prospective Students

Prospective graduate students are welcome to contact me to disucss advising/mentoring possibilities for the coming academic year. Those interested in historical & contemporary archaeology, community-based research, Black feminist theory and African Diaspora archaeology are especially encouraged to apply. 

 

Selected Publications: 
PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES
  • Under review. Materializing Memory and Building Community: A Contemporary Archaeology of the Bahamas. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association. Contemporary Archaeologies in Old Places: Material Politics between Past and Present, editors Elena Sesma and Evan Taylor.
  • 2020. Sesma, Elena. Photo elicitation as a tool for expanded participation in community archaeology. Journal of Community Archaeology and Heritage. Available open-access: https://doi.org/10.1080/20518196.2020.1793074
  • 2016. Sesma, Elena. Creating Mindful Heritage Narratives: Black Women in Slavery and Freedom. Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage 5(1):38-61.
  • 2015. Sesma, Elena. 'A Web of Community': Uncovering African American Historic Sites in Deerfield, MA. Journal of Community Archaeology and Heritage 2(2): 121-136. 
PEER-REVIEWED EDITED VOLUMES
  • Under review. Contemporary Archaeologies in Old Places: Material Politics between Past and Present. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association. Editors, Elena Sesma and Evan Taylor.
COMMUNITY REPORTS
  • 2018. Sesma, Elena, "Memory and History in South Eleuthera: A Report to the People of South Eleuthera" (2018). Archaeological Project Reports. 1. https://doi.org/10.7275/z08z-1g12