Dissertation Defense: Ajanet S. Rountree

This dissertation sets Hurston and her contributions to anthropology and literature as a vanguard, making a central argument that her knowledge production can contribute generally to peace and conflict resolution (PaCR) as interdisciplinary fields if introduced broadly, and more specifically when examining Black communities. It deliberately centers Hurston, a Black woman scholar, who is generally researched as an outside Other, to further explore the ontological and epistemological intersection as an introduction to the ways of being of an educated Black woman in perceived sacred spaces, including White institutions like colleges and universities. To accomplish this, Hurston and her less-acclaimed works are historically contextualized and analyzed from various angles, including interpersonal and intra-racial interactions based on the social contract. Recognizing Hurston’s positionality within the context of time and space, this project mindfully notes anthropology discipline changes and PaCR field establishment are background to Hurston’s foreground. In this way, Hurston serves as an entry point for other Black scholarship and knowledge production to become central in the fields’ quests for expertise, cultural competency, equity, and social justice of communities they claim to serve.

Committee:

• Susan F. Hirsch, Chair, Professor, Carter School, GMU,
• Tehama M. Lopez Bunyasi, Professor, Carter School, GMU
• Wendi Manuel-Scott, Professor, School of Integrative Studies, GMU