Biography

University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Law School - Law

Professor of Anthropology and Law at University of Illinois; Visiting Professor of Law, University of Chicago Law School
Christopher
Fennell
Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Area
I am an anthropologist and lawyer (MA, U. Pennsylvania; JD, Georgetown U. 1989; Ph.D., U. Virginia 2003), specializing in historical archaeology, African diaspora studies, and legal anthropology as a Professor of Anthropology and Law. I served as the Director of Graduate Studies and Associate Head of Anthropology at UIUC from 2010 through 2013. I also teach courses as a Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School. My empirical research addresses subjects in trans-Atlantic historical archaeology and the dynamics of social group affiliations and lifeways among Europeans, Africans, and various social groups within the Americas. These research initiatives include interpretative frameworks focusing on social group identities, ethnic group dynamics and racialization, diaspora studies, regional systems and commodity chains, stylistic and symbolic elements of material culture, consumption patterns, and analysis of craft and industrial enterprises.