Angela Castañeda — Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Coordinator of Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Dr. Castañeda finished her Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Indiana University in April of 2004. Her research interests focus on issues of identity, festivals, religion, and expressive culture among communities of the African Diaspora in Latin America and the Caribbean. With research and field experience in various Latin American countries including Brazil, her dissertation entitled, “Veracruz también es Caribe”: Power, Politics, and Performance in the making of an Afro-Caribbean Identity, was based on her field research in Mexico.

In her research, Dr. Castañeda focuses on the exploration of Afro-Caribbean influences in Mexico as well as on the complexity of identity formation. Her courses examine how people view themselves and how our identities are continually crafted into new understandings of who we are.  Currently, Dr. Castañeda is focusing on the ways in which cultural performances reinforce a link with Afro-Caribbean communities in Veracruz, Mexico as well as the impact of commercialization on the Afro-Brazilian religion of Candomblé.

Description of courses now teaching:

Spring 2007:
Human Cultures ANTH 151
This introductory course addresses the methods of inquiry characteristic of cultural anthropology.  Focusing on both so-called “exotic” cultures and our own, it also explores the great diversity existing in human culture, while at the same time searching for cultural universals—the similarities that make all humans fundamentally alike.

Performing Culture in Latin America ANTH 366
The focus of this course is on the relationship between cultural performance and identity among Latin American communities.  Specific case studies will include ethnographic research from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba and Mexico.  These examples will illustrate the diversity in culture found in Latin America with an additional emphasis on the African presence in these communities.  Of particular interest are the interconnected roles of power and politics in the performance of culture—how the two are performed in an attempt at re-forming and sometimes de-forming and mis-informing each other. The course addresses both the formal aspects of performance, audience/performer relationships as well as social and contextual influences on cultural performance. 

Other courses:
Religions of the African Diaspora ANTH 290
This course is designed to explore the history, functions, and communities, which encompass religions of the African Diaspora such as Santería, Vodou, and Candomblé. Among the topics and themes to be addressed in relation to religion are issues of identity, ethnicity, gender, performance, and class.  Case studies in Brazil, Cuba, Haiti and among Latinos in the U.S. will illuminate the multivocality of the religious beliefs and practices found in the African Diaspora. 

Intro. to Latin American & Caribbean Cultures LACS 100
This course introduces students to the diverse cultures and societies of Latin America and the Caribbean via a multi-disciplinary approach. Through historical, ethnographic, and literary study, as well as films, it explores relations of power, ideology, and resistance from the colonial conquest to the present, including economic dependency, development, political institutions, the military, social movements, religious expressions and ethnic and class relations.