GW Anthropology Professor Stephen Lubkemann, Slave Wrecks Project on 60 Minutes

The Department of Anthropology's own Dr. Stephen Lubkemann was featured on CBS's 60 Minutes this past Sunday, November 1st. Dr. Lubkemann discussed his involvement with the recovery of the slaving vessel the Sao Jose, which foundered off the coast of Mozambique and South Africa in 1794. 

The excavation of the ship was a collaborative effort undertaken by members of the international Slave Wrecks Project including Dr. Lubkemann, curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, Dr. Paul Gardullo, IZIKO (Museums of South Africa), and the U.S. Park Service. In an exciting partnership, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture will showcase select artifacts from the site in its inaugural exhibit on the history of the slave trade upon opening in 2016.

The Slave Wrecks Project grew out of research initiated here at GW and incorporates a variety of different GW departments and programs including Anthropology, the Capitol Archaeological Institute, Africana Studies, the Diaspora Research Program, and the GW Institute for International Tourism Studies.

According to Dr. Lubkemann, the project has in turn been able to offer opportunities for research and various other types of involvement to over twenty undergraduate and graduate GW students since 2010. It has also spearheaded the development of in-depth GW partnerships with the newest of the Smithsonian museums, as well as with other national and international partners—now in at least 9 different countries including Mozambique, South Africa, Senegal, Portugal, Brazil, and Cuba.

View the 60 Minutes segment on the Sao Jose project here!