LAKELAND, Fla. (Jan. 25, 2007) — Florida Southern College’s Center for Florida History welcomes Dr. Rosalyn Howard to the Florida Lecture Series on Feb. 8. Howard will discuss “From Tampa Bay to Red Bays: Florida’s Black Seminole Diaspora” at 7 p.m. in the William M. Hollis Seminar Room on the Florida Southern campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.

“Rosalyn Howard’s work on the Black Seminole Diaspora and the Sarasota area’s ‘Angola Project’ is interesting and intriguing and adds fundamentally to a fuller understanding of the African American experience in Florida and the West Indies,” said James M. Denham, professor of history and director of FSC’s Center for Florida History. 

Howard is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Central Florida, specializing in cultural anthropology. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 1999. Much of Howard’s current research focuses on how the interrelationships of African and indigenous peoples in the Americas and the Caribbean relate to cultural identity. Her book, “Black Seminoles in the Bahamas” (2002) explores both the historical relationships of Seminole Indians and Black Seminoles, and their present-day descendants in Florida. Her latest research involves an interdisciplinary project, "Looking for Angola," about a maroon community formerly located near Sarasota, Fla., that could have direct connections to the Bahamian Black Seminole descendants on Andros Island. Her research about the existence of the Black Seminoles' pathway to freedom in the Bahamas will become part of "The Slave Route," a project mapping the African Diaspora that is being conducted by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in Paris.

About the Florida Lecture Series 
The Florida Lecture Series is produced by the Center for Florida History under the direction of Dr. James M. Denham. The program brings speakers to the Lakeland campus who approach the issue of “Florida Life and Culture” from a wide range of disciplines, including history, public affairs, law, sociology, criminology, anthropology, literature, music and art. Its overall objective is to create an opportunity for members of the community, faculty, and student body to listen to, interact with and learn from leading scholars and specialists of the state’s history and culture.

About Florida Southern College
Founded in 1885, Florida Southern College is a private, comprehensive, United Methodist college with a liberal arts core. The college maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 38 undergraduate majors and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, and nursing. Florida Southern has a 13:1 student/faculty ratio, provides strong student/faculty mentorship programs, boasts 25 NCAA Division II national championships, and is ranked by U. S. News and World Report as one of the top ten Southern Comprehensive Colleges-Bachelors institutions and by the Princeton Review as a “Best Southeastern College.” Located on scenic Lake Hollingsworth, Florida Southern is the home of the world’s largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.