Dr. Cameron Gokee, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology has been awarded the 2016-18 Book Prize from the Committee of the Society of Africanist Archaeologists (SAfA). The Book Prize Committee unanimously and enthusiastically agreed that Gokee’s book, “Assembling the Village in Medieval Bambuk: An Archaeology of Interaction at Diouboye,” Senegal (Equinox Publishing), should receive this award, given its very high quality, methodological rigour and significance for Africanist prehistory. The prize was awarded at the biennial meeting of the Society, held in June 2018 in Toronto, Canada.
Gokee is an anthropological archaeologist who studies the interplay between communities and the broader landscapes and networks that engulf them. His fieldwork in the Upper Senegal-Niger region of West Africa takes a multi-scalar approach to the history of village communities over the past thousand years–a period that witnessed long-term climate change, the rise and fall of medieval empires, the violence of the Atlantic slave trade, the spread of Islam and ultimately, the imposition of colonialism. He also collaborates with the Undocumented Migration Project to study and call attention to the ways in which undocumented migrants experience the dangerous physical and political landscape of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands of southern Arizona.
“Dr. Cameron Gokee's commitment to history, archaeology and community engagement is striking with regards to both his research and teaching excellence in the classroom. We are not surprised that this holistic and interdisciplinary book was recognized by his professional colleagues with this award. He exemplifies the teacher-scholar model at Appalachian and his sustained interests in communities and global education perfectly match the core mission and values of our institution,” said Dr. Timothy J. Smith, Associate Professor and Department Chair of Anthropology.
The Society of Africanist Archaeologists is an organization of archaeologists, researchers from associated disciplines and others who share an interest in African archaeology and African societies. Membership of the society is international, with participation from Africa, the Americas, Europe and Asia and is actively involved in research in many African countries.
“I’m incredibly honored to have my book recognized in this way by colleagues in African archaeology. I hope this further shows the value of studying the tensions between tradition and globalization in rural villages past and present,” said Dr. Cameron Gokee.
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About the Department of Anthropology
The Department of Anthropology offers a comparative and holistic approach to the study of the human experience. The anthropological perspective provides a broad understanding of the origins as well as the meaning of physical and cultural diversity in the world — past, present and future. Learn more at https://anthro.appstate.edu.
Dr. Cameron Gokee headshot
Dr. Cameron Gokee headshot