Bead Project Lecture Series: Sub-Saharan Glass Beads

Join us for a virtual presentation of the Sub-Saharan history of glass beads by Dr Abidemi Babalola. This lecture series commemorates the 25th Anniversary of the Bead Project with speakers highlighting the historical significance of beads and the contribution of beadmaking and beadwork to contemporary art & jewelry. Watch from the comfort of your home by registering for the virtual Zoom ticket, or join us in the classroom at UrbanGlass for a live screening of the lecture.

Abidemi Babatunde Babalola is the Andrew Mellon fellow at the Scientific research department of the British Museum, United Kingdom. Before joining the British Museum, Dr Babalola was the Smuts Research Fellow at the Centre of African Studies and a Fellow at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge, UK. In 2016-2017 he was the McMillian Stewart Fellow at the Hutchins Centre for African & African American Research and a Postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Anthropology Harvard University. Dr Babalola received his B. A. and M. A. in archaeology from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, and a PhD in anthropological archaeology from Rice University, Houston, Texas. He is the director of the Archaeology of Glass Project in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. His research interests include history and archaeology of technology, craft specialization, material culture, complex societies, cultural heritage management, community archaeology, and visual anthropology. Dr Babalola’s publications have appeared in the Journal of Black Studies, Antiquity Journal, Journal of African Archaeology, Journal of Archaeological Science, and the International Journal of African Historical Studies.