On November 17, Beau Gaitors, assistant professor of history, will give an online public talk about "African Descendants in Mexican History."

In the 2020 Mexican census more than 2.5 million people self-identified as African descendant. Reporters attributed this number to recent arrivals from West Africa and the Caribbean without reflecting on the vast presence in the colonial and early independence periods. This talk engages archival examples to illuminate African descendants’ crucial roles in Mexico history, providing a better understanding of their presence today.

Beau D.J. Gaitors is an assistant professor in the UT Department of History. He is a historian of Latin America with research and teaching emphasis on the economic, political, and social impacts of African descendants in nineteenth and early twentieth-century Latin America after the abolition of slavery. Prior to coming to UT, he was an assistant professor of history at Winston-Salem State University. Gaitors received his Ph.D. in Latin American history in 2017 from Tulane University, his M.A. in history from Purdue University in 2010, and his B.A. in Africana studies and international relations from Brown University in 2008.

About the Series:

Conversations & Cocktails is a free public lecture series hosted by the UT Humanities Center, which showcases the original research of our distinguished University of Tennessee arts and humanities faculty. Our monthly talks give you the opportunity to hear about fascinating and groundbreaking work in the arts and in fields such as philosophy, history, and literary studies. Presentations are 30-40 minutes long and are designed for the general public. A spirited question-and-answer discussion follows each presentation.

If you enjoy this series and would like to support future UT Humanities Center programming, please visit this link to learn about giving opportunities.