Women's and Gender Studies Symposium Keynote Speech

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The Keynote Speech Women's & Gender Studies Symposium Wednesday, April 19 from 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. in Blackbridge Hall (The HUB). Professor Amy Nichols-Belo, from Mercer University, will present "Witch-killing, Albino Murders, and Government Surveillance: The Gendered Politics of Violence and Traditional Healing in Tanzania." In this lecture, she examines transformations to traditional healing (uganga) practice as a result of government surveillance and regulation in response to two forms of violence – gendered “witch-killing” and murders of people with albinism.  Drawing upon a decade of ethnographic and archival research, she examines how the Tanzanian state’s response is shaped by human rights discourse and a global preoccupation with “occult violence” and human rights discourse.  While recognizing that the state has an interest and imperative in preventing violence, she argues that one result of government sanctions is to delegitimize women's role in healing practice. Nichols-Belo completed her Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of Virginia, MS in science and technology studies at Virginia Tech, and BA in history and international affairs at James Madison University. She teaches Global Health Studies and Anthropology at Mercer University. Nichols-Belo has conducted research in Tanzania since 2001. 

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