Savannah Shange

Welcome to the publication, “Representations.” This is a project designed to bring the perspectives of a wider variety of groups to the forefront of the anthropology classroom. To celebrate Black History Month, we are covering the accomplishments of 28 Black anthropologists across 28 days. Learn more about our project; read on for the amazing accomplishments of Savannah Shange.

Dr. Savannah Shange is a scholar, activist, and anthropologist. She is currently the Assistant Professor of Anthropology at University of California, Santa Cruz.

Shange received her Bachelor’s of Theater Arts in 2002 from the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts, New York City. Shange then attended Tufts University to earn her Master’s of Arts in Teaching; Secondary English Instruction in 2003. Then in 2017, she received her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in Africana Studies and Education. She focuses her research on “blackness, ethnographic ethics, and Afro-pessimism, and queer color critique”(Principal Faculty, n.d). She is the daughter of Black feminist leader, playwright, and poet, Ntozake Shange.

Dr. Shange spends her time working to educate the Black community in the classroom and on the frontlines of activist work. Her dissertation is called, “Progressive Dystopia: Settlers, Slaves, and the Limits of Solidarity.” Her research focuses on the city of San Francisco, where gentrification displaces the Black community and low-income families. She takes a deep look into racial conflicts and disparities that occur in the education system. It is a space where anti-Blackness is still the prominent outlook and which sets up Black students to fail and focus on surviving rather than succeeding.

Shange has authored other publications focusing on Black feminism, gender, abolition, and black scholars. She continues to contribute to social justice reform and she educates those around her in order to continuously foster a more just community.

Shange specifically educates students with expertise in African American/Black Studies, Queer Studies, Ethnography, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies. To her students, Shange is a true hero and in anthropology, she is a leader for her efforts to produce meaningful ethnographic research.

To learn more about Dr. Savannah Shange, you can visit her website http://savannahshange.com/

Bibliography

Principal faculty. (n.d.). Retrieved February 03, 2021, from https://cres.ucsc.edu/faculty/regular-faculty.php?uid=sshangeb

Savannah Shange and the BLACK/GIRLHOOD IMAGINARY. (n.d.). Retrieved February 03, 2021, from https://www.crg.berkeley.edu/events/savannah-shange-and-the-black-girlhood-imaginary-2/

Ntozake shange. (2021, January 24). Retrieved February 03, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ntozake_Shange

Shange, S. (n.d.). Progressive dystopia: ABOLITION, Anti Blackness, and schooling in San Francisco. Retrieved February 03, 2021, from https://www.dukeupress.edu/progressive-dystopia