Tune in to the Smithsonian Channel Monday, February 19 at 8:00 pm to see Karl Austin, Chair of the Middle School Science Department, in a documentary entitled Escape to the Great Dismal Swamp.
In addition to teaching Middle School Science, Karl recently earned his doctorate in Anthropology at American University with a concentration in Historical Archaeology. His dissertation was focused on the runaway slaves, referred to as the Maroons, that lived in the Great Dismal Swamp – a vast wilderness covering parts of Virginia and North Carolina – leading up to and into the 19th century.
In 2016, Karl went into the swamp with his advisor and peers from American University to help make the documentary, which focuses on what archaeology is telling us about the Maroons' life. In the documentary, Karl discusses his dissertation and the discovery of a defensive structure that caused cultural changes for the swamp’s residents.
For more information and to see a trailer on this fascinating documentary, visit the Smithsonian Channel.
And, to download his dissertation entitled The Morass of Resistance During the Antebellum: Agents of Freedom in the Great Dismal Swamp, go to:
https://dissexpress.proquest.
