Genetic Ancestry Testing and Reconnection: Interview with Dr. Victoria Massie

In this episode, Julia Sizek, a PhD candidate in Anthropology at UC Berkeley, interviews Dr. Victoria Massie, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology, and Faculty Affiliate for the Center for African & African American Studies (CAAAS), the Medical Humanities Program and the Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality (CSWGS) at Rice University in Houston. 

A recent alumna of the Ph.D. program in Sociocultural Anthropology and the Designated Emphasis in Science & Technology Studies programs at UC Berkeley, Massie's work draws on black feminist kinship studies at the intersection of racial capitalism and biocapitalism to understand the centrality of emerging biotechnologies for mobility for people of African descent, with a focus on Cameroon. Outside of her work as anthropologist, Massie is a creative non-fiction writer.

On the podcast, Sizek interviews Massie about her research tracking diasporic connections between the US and Cameroon, and the wider world of genetic ancestry testing.

Produced by the University of California, Berkeley’s Social Science Matrix, the Matrix Podcast features interviews with scholars from across the UC Berkeley campus. Listen to other episodes here. You can also listen on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.

A transcript is available at: https://matrix.berkeley.edu/research-article/genetic-ancestry-testing-and-reconnection-an-interview-with-dr-victoria-massie/.