"Studying Interpretations of Nubia and Egypt: From Edmonia Lewis to Drusilla Dunjee Houston" was presented by Dr. Tasha Vorderstrasse at #MOEgypt5 on Saturday, 21 Oct 2023.

The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia and North Africa's online non-credit adult education classes and teacher workshops that relate to Black female historians, artists, and intellectuals' work on ancient Nubia and Egypt. These learning opportunities are for interested members of the public to develop their understanding of the historiography of the fields of Nubian studies and Egyptology. Traditionally, Black scholars and artists have been erased and ignored from our understandings of the development of the disciplines, meaning that their contributions have not been acknowledged and do not form part of our discourse. This presentation will look at the ISAC teacher workshops on the subject: one on Pauline Hopkins, Drusilla Dunjee Houston, and Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller and one on Edmonia Lewis’ Death of Cleopatra as well as the recent ISAC free class on Drusilla Dunjee Houston’s history of Nubia. It also discusses highlighting their work in other ISAC classes and ISAC museum tours. It looks at the way in which we can teach this material and provide resources on these scholars and their importance to the field.

Session Chair: Prof. Stacy Davidson