[Interview of Afrofuturist sound scholar Dr. Tobias C. Van Veen].

Dr. Tobias C. van Veen, Visiting Scholar at the ReImagining Value Action Lab at Lakehead University, and Visiting Professor in Humanities at Quest University, talks about Afrofuturism, sound studies, technology, and their relationship to the academy. He mentions that, for him, Afrofuturism does not just have one single definition. In addition to this, he notes that Afrofuturism ties temporality and dovetails with Afrocentrism and 20th-century radical Black politics. Moreover, he mentions that it has a focus in the recovery and reclaiming of Black histories while, at the same time, adding a creative, science fiction layer which attempts to reveal a truth or a "multiverse of possible truths" of how a Black world would look like. Dr. van Veen also discusses sound in Afrofuturism and how it is significant from both a historical and communications lens. In this conversation, he reminisces about his undergraduate and academic training in the fields of English and Philosophy, respectively, and traces his entry into studying Black sound, culture, and philosophy, leading to his current work in studies around Afrofuturism. Interviewed by MSU Professor Julian Chambliss.

Recorded 2021 June 2