Dr. Cheryl Rodriguez, professor and anthropologist in the USF College of Arts and Sciences School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, has earned the from the Association of Black Anthropologists (ABA).
The ABA, a section in the American Anthropological Association, awards this honor to anthropologists for 鈥渢heir significant contributions to research, scholarship, and service to communities of African descent in the United States and throughout the African Diaspora.鈥�
鈥淏eing recognized by a national group of colleagues is a tremendous honor. I knew Dr. Ira Harrison and I greatly respected his commitment to anthropological research and scholarship,鈥� Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez, who has been an anthropologist for more than 30 years, says she pursued the field of anthropology because 鈥淚 felt that ethnographic research methods鈥攚hich can involve participant observation and interviewing鈥攁re effective methods for understanding the human condition at a very deep level.鈥�
She has recently been involved with several projects focused on issues related to African American neighborhoods in Tampa, Fla.
鈥淚 felt that ethnographic research methods鈥攚hich can involve participant observation and interviewing鈥攁re effective methods for understanding the human condition at a very deep level,鈥� said Rodriguez.
鈥淭hese projects bring together history and local issues of importance to those communities,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 am very proud of my collaborative publications with international scholars, including a volume of scholarly essays, 鈥楾ransatlantic Feminisms: Women and Gender Studies in Africa and the Diaspora,鈥� that I co-edited with colleagues from the University of Ghana.鈥�
She鈥檚 also currently collecting data on a National Science Foundation-supported project entitled, 鈥淗ow do histories of violence shape affect and experience?鈥� to examine histories of racial violence in Florida and the ways in which residents in various counties are choosing to remember those difficult histories.
鈥淸Anthropology] is a fascinating field of study that illuminates the intricacies of the human experience,鈥� she said.