PREVIOUS EVENTS Professor Manisha Sinha of Afro-American Studies gave a keynote address on April 27, 2013 at “Maine in the Civil War,” a public symposium at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. Professor Manisha Sinha spoke on “Race and Equality in the Age of Lincoln,” at the annual Lincoln Lecture at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, on Feb. 6. Recently, Sinha was a featured commentator on “The Abolitionists” part of the “American Experience” series on PBS. Sinha consulted on the script for the series and is featured prominently on screen discussing the era and her upcoming book on the abolitionists. Sinha is the author of “The Counterrevolution of Slavery: Politics and Ideology in Antebellum South Carolina” and “To Live and Die in the Holy Cause: Abolition and the Origins of America’s Interracial Democracy,” forthcoming from Yale University Press. See full article here. Check out Professor Manisha Sinha's recent activities: "The Forgotten Emancipationists" Diverse: Issues in Higher
Education Lecture by Dr. Alondra Nelson, Columbia Univ., Department of Sociology and the Institute for Research on Women and Gender 4:30 p.m., Campus Center, Room 904 Book Signing for Dr. Rose Ihedigbo-Franklin's book, "Sandals In The Snow" April 16th at 4:30 p.m. Food For Thought Bookstore North Pleasant St, Amherst
Professor Bracey featured in the new MEF Film "How Racism Harms White Americans" Thursday, March 28th at 7:00 p.m., Thompson Hall, Room 104 Presented by the Media Education Foundation (MEF), the Department of Afro-American Studies, and the Department of Communications, UMass Amherst
'No Name, No Banner': Slave Agency beyond Literacy and Literature Lecture by Dr. Gene Andrew Jarrett 4:30 p.m., Campus Center, Room 904 "Seeking Soul Sister: Grace Halsell and the Quest for a Compassionate World" Lecture by Dr. Robin D.G. Kelley 4:30 p.m., Paino Lecture Hall, Amherst College Brown Bag Lunch with Dr. Robin D.G. Kelley 12-1 p.m., Reading Room, 2nd Floor, New Africa House Come talk with Professor Kelley, the History Department's 2012 Writer in Residence "The Long Rise and Short Decline of American Democracy" Lecture by Dr. Robin D.G. Kelley 4:00 p.m., Cape Cod Lounge, UMass Amherst AfroAm Meet & Greet with Dr. Martha Biondi 10:00 a.m., Reading Room, 2nd Floor, New Africa House The New Africa House Ensemble Performance Featuring UMass Amherst Talent 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. August Savage Art Gallery The Black Revolution on Campus: Student Activism and the Transformation of Higher Education Lecture by Dr. Martha Biondi 4:30 p.m., Campus Center 904-908 |
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Du Bois' Gifts to Black Art: A Roundtable Discussion Featuring Professor Yemisi Jimoh, Jim Carroll, Ph.D. candidate, and Craig Harris, trombonist and composer 3:00-4:30 p.m., Reading Room, 2nd Floor, New Africa House Langston Hughes Then & Now Featuring Prof. Steve Tracy and Alex Carter, Ph.D. candidate 6:00-8:00 p.m., MXCC A Discussion on Ida B. Wells Students Against Mass Incarceration Featuring Emahunn Campbell, Ph.D. candidate 6:00-8:30 p.m., MXCC Darrick Hamilton Associate Professor, Urban Policy From Dark to Light: Skin Shade Stratification and Life Outcomes? November 28th @ 4:00 pm, Room 919, Thompson Hall The presentation will be based on the following two papers: 1. From Dark to Light Skin Color and Wages Among African-Americans 2. Shedding ‘light’ on marriage: The influence of skin shade on marriage for black females A Lecture by Dr. Mark Anthony Neal Dr. Walter Sistrunk Visiting Scholar in the UMass Department of Linguistics “Pugilistic Linguistics”: The Study of African American (English) in Theory and Practice This lecture highlights the value of interdisciplinary approaches to studying African American language from perspectives that combine both Africana Studies and linguistic theory Monday, November 19th Sinha is panelist on Lincoln and the ConstitutionProfessor Manisha Sinha of Afro-American Studies took part in a panel on the National Constitution Center's traveling exhibition "Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War" on Nov. 7 at Norwalk Community College in Connecticut. The exhibition is administered by the American Library Association and funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The panel included professor James F. Simon of the New York Law School, professor J. Ronald Spencer of Trinity College, and prize-winning Lincoln biographer professor Michael Burlingame of the University of Illinois. See In The Loop. Black Consciousness & Literature in Brazil: Black Consciousness & Literature in Brazil
Saturday, October 13th James Baldwin symposium featuring John Edgar Wideman 2:30-4:00 p.m. The legacy of James Baldwin will be discussed by celebrated author 97th Annual ASALH Convention The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) next convention will be September 26 -30 2012, at the Westin Convention Center | Pittsburgh, PA. It will follow the 2012 National Black History Theme: Black Women in American Culture and History. For details, go to http://www.asalh.org/annualconvention.html Celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation! Unitarian
Society in Northampton September 22nd from 1:00-2:20 p.m.
Reverend Andrea Ayvazian and Professor John Bracey
A lecture with Professor John H. Bracey August 7th at 7:00 p.m. 106 Seelye Hall, Smith College http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=4a967ce6778dd83793e575b66&id=22109c99a9&e=20ca066e72 Dissertation Defenses of 2012 Allia Matta successfully defended her dissertation, "Uncovering the Covered Word and Image: Ernest Gibson, III successfully defended his dissertation, "In Search of the Fraternal: Salvific Manhood and Male Intimacy in the Novels of James Baldwin" on April 9, 2012. Professor James Smethurst chaired the committee. McKinley Melton successfully defended his dissertation, "Pen Stroking the Soul of a People: Spiritual Foundations of Black Diasporan Literature" on June 23, 2012. Emeritus Professor, Michael Thelwell chaired the committee. Du Bois Department 2012 Annual Graduation Celebration May 11th at 12 noon Shirley Graham Du Bois Reading Room 2nd floor, New Africa House All of our doctoral students, majors, minors, and your families are invited to attend! Please RSVP us as soon as possible so we can order enough food for all.
Prof. Bill Strickland at the Left Forum Opening Plenary 2012 An interview with South African Poet Laureate Keorapetse Kgositsile: http://wumb.libsyn.com/webpage
Prof. Trimiko Melancon ('05), has been awarded a prestigious Woodrow Wilson fellowship. Prof. Manish Sinha gave a speech at the 11th Annual Underground Railroad History Conference in New York. See video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHbZQ-lFs1A Congratulations to Professor Agustín Lao-Montes who participated in the closing panel of the Casa de las Americas' conference commemorating the fifty years that have passed since Frantz Fanon died in 1961. The four-day conference in Cuba launched the publication of Casa's premier Spanish edition of Fanon's last work Los condenados de la tierra (The Wretched of the Earth). Professor Lao-Montes' introduction appears before the original preface written by Jean Paul Sartre. His work complements Professor John Bracey's introduction that appears in the Casa edition of Los Jacobinos Negros (The Black Jacobins) by C.L.R. James, published in 2010.
(L to R) Yolanda Wood Pujois, Ana María Cabellero, Roberto Fernández Retamar, Lao-Montes, Mireille Fanon See http://www.casadelasamericas.com/ centroestudios/eventos/2011/fanon/programa.html http://www.pathfinderpress.com/Los-Jacobinos-Negros-. |
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The Fire Next Tine Colloquium presents... Prof. Lianggong Luo, Central China Normal University "Langston Hughes in China" Monday, April 23rd at 4pm Du Bois Reading Room, New Africa House, UMass Amherst *Refreshments! |
Black Truth Thursday, April 19, 2012: Hip Hop & Community Engagement: Zell Miller III, Will Power, Chris Tinson, & Nat Turner, panel moderated by Priscilla Page; A Reading by Poet Nikky Finney, 2011 National Book Award-Winning Author of "Head Off and Split;" 17th Annual Kaplan Lecture: Professor Daphne Brooks, Princeton University, 17th Annual Sidney Kaplan Lecture. @ different times and venues on the UMass campus.
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Congratulations to all who attended the 2012 Black Alumni Reunion, April 12-15 The W.E.B. Du Bois Department, the UMass Amherst Alumni Association, and Center for Multicultural Advancement and Student Success tppk part in a reunion weekend packed with social, cultural, and educational events. On Friday, April 13, an Alumni Meet & Greet was held at New Africa House. On Sunday, Prof. John Bracey was honored by returning alums. Onward to 2013! |
18th Annual Du Bois Lecture Derrick Alridge, University of Virginia Thursday, February 23, 2012, 4:30PM The W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studiesco-sponsors the lecture with our Library's Special Collections and University Archives, and we annually invite a distinguished speaker to discuss Dr. Du Bois’ life and work in commemoration of his birth on February 23, 1868. |
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CULTURAL EVENT Wadada Leo Smith: In Conversation
Wadada spoke about his production "Ten Freedom Summers," a large work inspired by the activity of the civil rights movement from The Niagara Falls congress in 1905, President Harry S. Truman in 1948 signing Executive Order 9981 that began the racial integration of the U.S. military, to Dr. Martin Luther King's Memphis speech in 1968.
December 2nd at 2 P.M.
New Africa House
Shirley Du Bois Reading Room
Sponsored by the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies in cooperation with The Fine Arts Center Magic Triangle Series.
For more info. on his other appearances at UMass, click here.
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Theater in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Thursday, November 10, 2011 • 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm,
Herter • 231
The Du Bois Department was pleased to join with The Interdisciplinary Seminar in the Humanities and Fine Arts (ISHA) to host the noted South African theater director and playwright, Malcolm Purkey, presented a talk entitled "Theater in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Lessons from an Artistic Director." Purkey is Artistic Director of the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, one of the primary sites of anti-apartheid theater in South Africa before 1994, and still one of its most innovative centers. He is an award-winning director and playwright, and a founder member of the Junction Avenue Theatre Company. A teacher and academic, Purkey holds an MA in Theater Studies from the State University of New York and taught at the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg) for twenty years. Click here for more information
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Black in America Past, Present, Future? A Discussion by Professor John Bracey October 24th at 7:00 p.m. Malcolm X Cultural Center |
At our Fire Next Time Colloquim on October 18, Trimiko Melancon, Professor of English at Loyola University New Orleans, presented “Reading Race and the Difference It Makes”: (Post) 9/11 and Words Never Said."
Prof. Melancon graduated from the Du Bois doctoral program in 2005, and has received numerous honors including a Marquette Fellowship at Loyola University (2011), being named a James Weldon Johnson Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies Visiting Scholar at Emory University (2008-2010), and a J. William Fulbright Scholar of American Literature and American Studiesin Berlin, Germany (2006-2007). Her talk will begin at 12 noon in New Africa House, in the Shirley Graham Du Bois Reading Room on the 2nd floor.
Robert Romer, author of Slavery in the Connecticut Valley of Massachusetts, spoke at 4PM on October 18, in 128 New Africa House. Since 2001, Prof. Romer actively taught in the Physics Department at Amherst College for 45 years and was an undergraduate student there from 1948-1952. For the past few years he has engaged in local heritage work and published "Higher Education and Slavery in Western Massachusetts," in the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (2005). His talk is part of a special appearance in Prof. Amilcar Shabazz's class "Heritage of the Oppressed," being taught for The Social Thought and Political Economy Program (STPEC), an interdisciplinary undergraduate program in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at UMass Amherst that was founded in 1972, by Robert Paul Wolff, Emeritus Professor in the Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies. |
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"Civil War Causes and Consequences"
The Five Colleges (UMass, Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges) hosted a Sesquicentennial Civil War Conference, on October 14 and 15. It was keynoted by Eric Foner and David Blight and included Tera Hunter and other historians from across the country.
Recent Chancellor’s Medal winner and Du Bois Department faculty member Manisha Sinha, along with John Higginson, Leo Richards and Bruce Laurie, were among the UMass Amherst participants.
Click here for details.
"Du Bois, Black Feminist Archaeology, and the Veil of Black Womanhood"
Assistant professor of Anthropology and Afro-American Studies, Whitney Battle-Baptiste discussed gender, race and class and the development of Du Boisian archaeology on Friday, October 14, from 3-5 pm on Floor 26 in the Du Bois Library. She also read from and offered signed copies for sale of her new book, Black Feminist Archaeology. Light refreshments will be served.
Members of the Du Bois Department family, faculty, students, and alumni had a significant presence at the 96th annual convention of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), the oldest organization dedicated to the study and promotion of Black history.
ASALH 2011 Convention PSA 1 from ASALH Media Productions on Vimeo.
Prof. John Bracey presented the paper "St. Clair Drake, The Roosevelt University Years" and chaired three sessions on topics ranging from Chicago working class activism to Black Power and Black Arts Movement Studies. Prof. James Smethurst presented the paper "Black Arts Southwest: The Black Arts Movement in Texas" and participated in ASALH's Authors' Book Signing for his new book. Prof. Bill Strickland presented two papers: "The Lynching of the Black Political Body: How Post-Civil War Political Terror Overthrew Reconstruction & Founded the Jim Crow South,1866-1877" and ""Reinventing" or Rescripting?: Interrogating Manning Marable's Biography of Malcolm X." Du Bois Department doctoral students Vanessa Fabien and David Swiderski, as well as doctoral candidate in history Julie de Chantal (working with Prof. Shabazz) are on the ASALH program. Department alums on the program included Catherine L. Adams, Shawn Alexander, Stephanie Y. Evans,
Lloren Foster, David Goldberg, Alesia McFadden-Williams, Tanya Mears, Zebulon Miletsky, and Andrew Rosa.
The 2011 Du Bois Library Fellows, our own Markeysha Davis and Rickey Fayne of Northwestern University, gave talks based on their research on Friday, September 16th, 4-6 p.m. in the 26th Floor Conference Room of the Library. Markeysha presented the paper "Daring Propaganda for the Beauty of the Human Mind: Redefinition and Reaffirmation of the Black Self in Poetry and Drama of the 1960s and 1970s". For details click here.
Meet & Greet Afro-American Studies for our Faculty, Graduate Students, Majors, Minors, & Friends
Shirley Graham Du Bois Reading Room, 2nd Floor, New Africa House
Friday, September 16th, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Ernest Gibson, III, made it onto the 2011 Boston Lizard Lounge National Poetry Slam Team. The team competed at the National Poetry Slam, an annual poetry slam championship tournament against teams from all over North America and Europe that took place August 8-13th in Boston, Massachusetts. Click here for more...
Steve Tracy and his blues band, The King Bees, at the Creative Souls Art and Music Festival performed on August 20th at the Energy Park in Greenfield.
Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series
Manisha Sinha, Did the Abolitionists Cause the Civil War?
Wednesday, April 27th at 4:00 p.m. Massachusetts Room, Mullins Center, UMass Amherst
For more than thirty years, the campus has recognized the distinguished achievements through the series. The lectures honor individual faculty members and celebrate the value of academic excellence. Faculty members chosen for the series receive the Chancellor's Medal following their lectures. The Chancellor's Medal is the highest honor bestowed on individuals for exemplary and extraordinary service to the University. The lecture is open to the public and a reception follows immediately after the lecture. Previous Du Bois Department faculty members that were named the Distinguished Faculty Lecturers include John H. Bracey, Julius Lester, Chinua Achebe, and Robert Paul Wolff. For additional details click here.
Strickland Gives Lecture on Malcolm X
"Malcolm X: The Theoretician We Never Knew", a lecture Bill Strickland, gave at the Malcolm X Festival in Omaha, Nebraska (4/20/11)--hear it by clicking his photo or the link below. Professor Strickland speaks from his personal knowledge of Brother Malcolm. As head of the Northern Student Movement, he arranged the meeting between Malcolm and Fannie Lou Hamer when the MFDP (Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party) came to Harlem. A founding member of the independent black think tank, the Institute of the Black World, he was the senior consultant and wrote the companion book for the PBS documentary, Malcolm X : Make It Plain. He has been in Du Bois Department for over 35 years. Go to the audiofile.
"Racism & Racial Politics in Contemporary Cuba" A conversation with Tomas Fernandez Robaina, Researcher, National Jose Marti Library in Havana, Cuba; Author of Numerous Books and Articles
Friday, April 8th at 12:00 p.m.,
Shirley Graham Reading Room, 2nd Floor, New Africa House,
UMass Amherst
Sponsored by the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies and the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies,
Afro-Latino Diasporas: Black Cultures & Racial Politics in the Americas
Jonathan Fenderson's Dissertation Defense
"‘Journey Toward a Black Aesthetic’:
Hoyt Fuller, the Black Arts Movement & the Black Intellectual Community”
Thursday, April 7th at 12:30 p.m.; Room 118, School of Management (SOM)
MAKING CONNECTIONS: The 2011 Internships, Jobs, and Social Change Fair
Networking with STPEC, Afro-Am, Labor Center, and Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies Alumni/ae 
Thursday, April 7th, 5:30-7:00pm, Cape Cod Lounge, Student Union
A Career Fair Event jointly sponsored by the Du Bois Department together with Labor Studies, Women Gender Sexuality Studies, Social Thought and Political Economy Program, and Career Services. Du Bois Department and STPEC alumna Shannon Magee (class of '96, '97G), who cut red tape on two continents to open a school for girls in Ghana in 2006, is our featured speaker at the Career Fair. She will discuss how Afro-American Studies prepared her for her post-UMass experiences and activities. She comes to UMass with two Ghanaian students at the schools she founded and a video production team at work on a documentary about the schools. See "Bringing Change to Ghana: Alumna Shannan Magee opens a school for girls," for details.
A LOOK INSIDE SB1070
Monday, March 28th, 6:30 p.m., Machmer Hall
Equipped with a video camera and curiosity, a delegation of university students visited the border regions of Arizona to learn more about the enactment of the controversial anti-immigrant law SB1070.
In recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the STPEC department is organizing a viewing of this documentary. A panel discussion will follow, including Professors John Bracy (Afro-Am) and Agustin Lao-Montes (Sociology). Pizza will be provided for those who attend!
Screening: "Freedom Riders" Thurs., March 3, 7PM, Bartlett Rm. 65
Immediately after the film a panel discussion will take place featuring former Freedom Riders and Emeritus Professor Ekwueme Michael Thelwell. Co-sponsored by the History and Afro-American Studies Departments at UMass Amherst and WGBY.
Monday, February 28 at 4.30 p.m. Cape Cod Lounge, Student Union, UMass Amherst
“W.E.B. Du Bois: Personal Stories/Political Reflections”
Bettina Aptheker, Distinguished Professor of Feminist Studies and History, University of California, Santa Cruz
Bettina Aptheker is Distinguished Professor of Feminist Studies and History at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she has taught for more than 30 years. Her most recent book is a memoir, Intimate Politics: How I Grew Up Red, Fought for Free Speech and Became a Feminist Rebel (2006). It contains many stories of her early friendship with W.E.B. and Shirley Graham Du Bois. Other major books include, The Morning Breaks: The Trial of Angela Davis (1976; 2nd edition, 1999); Woman’s Legacy: Essays on Race, Sex, and Class in American History (1982) and Tapestries of Life: Women’s Work, Women’s Consciousness, and the Meaning of Daily Experience (1989). She is the biographer of Shirley Graham Du Bois for Notable American Women, and is currently writing a critical essay on Graham Du Bois’ creative career as an opera composer, playwright, biographer, and novelist. She is also at work on a major research project: “Queering the History of the American Left: 1940s-1980s.”
Professor Aptheker visited New Africa House to meet with Afro-Am Students and Faculty before her lecture
Commonwealth Honors College Lecture
"Reading W.E.B. Du Bois in the Context of the Present Economic Crisis"
Professor Amilcar Shabazz
Wednesday, February 23rd at 6:30 p.m., Student Union Ballroom
The State of African American and African Diaspora Studies: Methodology, Pedagogy, and Research
at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, January 6-8th, 2011
Du Bois Dept faculty John Bracey and Amilcar Shabazz; plus PhD candidate Jonathan Fenderson, and PhD alums Carolyn Powell, Chris Tinson, David Goldberg, and Ousmane Power-Greene) presented research at the conference.
The Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies thanks all the scholars and activists, writers and artists, youth and elders, who came together November 18-20, 2010, to mark our 40th year on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus, as well as to support the exchange of knowledge about the dynamic period in which academic Black Studies units like ours were established. The Art & Power in Movement conference drew over 400 participants. Please click the poster to go to the conference website. We will be posting photos, as well as links to video and audio files of many conference presentations, especially by our keynoters Sister Sonia Sanchez, Amiri Baraka, and others.
Go to TRGGR Megia Group for audio from keynote sessions at http://trggradio.wordpress.com/
Also, click here for the Conference Program (pdf). Continue to check the blog of our Working Group on Black Arts & Black Power Movement Research for additional post-conference developments.
The opening event in our 40th anniversary conference
November 18th at 4:00 p.m
Melba Joyce Boyd, Distinguished Professor and Chair of Africana Studies at Wayne State University and editor of the award-winning Roses and Revolutions: The Selected Writings of Dudley Randall lectured on Wrestling with the Muse: Dudley Randall and the Broadside Press
W.E.B. Du Bois Library, 25th Floor, UMass Amherst
Tuesday, November 2nd at 5:00 p.m.
Augusta Savage Gallery opening reception for An Untouchable Reaches Out: The Dalit Art of Savi Savarkar exhibiting prints from a renowned Indian artist and activist; Amherst-based Art historian Gary Tartakov curates this show (open until November 23).
Tuesday, October 26th at 4:00 p.m.
“40 Years of Academic Innovation at UMass Amherst” featured a keynote lecture by Professor James Hall from the University of Alabama and a panel discussion on 40 years of interdisciplinary experimentation in American higher education, jointly sponsored by BDIC and the Du Bois Department in the Bernie Dallas Room of Goodell Building.
Professor Hall, an extraordinary teacher, mentor and educational innovator, is an Associate Professor of African-American Studies and English at the University of Alabama. Since 2002, he also has served as Director of New College, an interdisciplinary liberal arts program. He is the author of Mercy, Mercy Me, African-American Culture and the American Sixties, and the winner of the Morris Lehman Mayer Award which recognizes "integrity, selfless service and leadership at the University of Alabama and in the community. A panel discussion will follow the lecture.
Click this link for a PDF on his visit: Hall Flyer
John Anthony Kendrick: “An Artist at Rest" Augusta Savage Gallery exhibit honoring a promising artist who died suddenly at the age of 30; his sister, author of a forthcoming book on Kendrick’s work and life, curates this exhibit (open until October 28).
Charles Payne Visits the Five Colleges and the Springfield Public Schools
*Open to 5 College Students and Faculty*
Tuesday, October 19, 1:30-3:00pm, Smith College – A Conversation with Charles Payne: The Persistence of Failure in Urban Schools, Stoddard Hall G2. Wednesday, October 20, 8:00-8:50am, UMass – I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle and the History of the Civil Rights Movement, Thompson 102. Thursday, October 21, 2:45 – 4:00pm, Mount Holyoke College – Dr. Payne on Urban Education and the Reform Movement, Cleveland Hall, L2.For information on Dr. Payne and his Springfield appearances, click this link for a PDF on his visit: Payne_Flyer
Thursday, October 21st at 9:00 a.m.
Professor Manisha Sinha gave a Keynote Address for a National Public Conference on Secession at the Filson Historical Society, Louisville Kentucky.
Tuesday, October 12 6:30 - 7:30 pm Augusta Savage Gallery, New Africa House, UMass Amherst Campus, FILM SCREENING of "Umlando - Through My Father's Eye" (45 mins) featured legendary South African musician Hugh Masekela and his American-born son Selema, an ESPN reporter for FIFA World Cup. Together they explore the people, culture and inspiring landscapes of South Africa/Azania and the nation's history. Sal Masekela will introduce this film and host a question and answer session immediately following the screening. This 10-part series was featured during 2010 FIFA World Cup. Also there will be an ARTIST TALK with Hugh & Sal Masekela on Wednesday, October 13, 1:30 - 2:45pm, with Hugh Masekela in concert at 7:30p.m., both in Bowker Auditorium. See http://www.umass.edu/fac/calendar/centerseries/events/HughMasekela.html
Meet & Greet Afro-American Studies Faculty, Friends, Alums, Graduate Students, Undergraduate Majors and Minors! Learn about the Du Bois Department, who we are and what we do. Join us in celebration as we launch our 40th anniversary year, 1970-2010. See special exhibits in the New Africa House Lobby and Augusta Savage Art Gallery.
Friday, October 15th at 12:00 p.m
Shirley Graham Du Bois Reading Room, 2nd Floor, New Africa House. Du Bois Department Homecoming 2010
The Fire Next Time Colloquium Series
Doctoral Programs in Africana/Black Studies: Context, Trends, and Research
Friday, Oct. 15th at 2:00 p.m.
Shirley Graham Du Bois Reading Room, 2nd Floor, New Africa House
Stephanie Evans, Ph.D. from the Du Bois Department, class of 2003
Associate Professor and Director of the African American Studies Program at the University of Florida (Gainesville).
Co-editor, "Africana Studies at the Graduate Level: A Twenty-first Century Perspective,"
special issue of The Western Journal of Black Studies * vol. 34, no. 2 * Summer 2010.
See http://www.professorevans.com/BSTPHD.asp
Kabria Baumgartner, Jonathan Fenderson and Jason Hendrickson
Du Bois Department doctoral candidates in Afro-American Studies and participants in the National Council for Black Studies and Ford Foundation Summer Institute for Ph.D. Students
The Du Bois Department is the source of numerous events every academic year, both those we directly sponsor as well as those we sponsor jointly with others. The link to the PDF below offers a gallery of press releases, flyers, and posters of our past events since 2007.
The list includes:
Brazilian Minister Matilde Ribeiro lectured at an event the Du Bois Department co-sponsored with the Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies on September 13, 2007.
“Genius” writer and filmmaker Charles Burnett visited Amherst Cinema on October 21-22, 2007, for co-sponsored showings of his classic works, and New Africa House. He gave the Afro-American Studies Department an exclusive screening of his newest work Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation.
Du Bois Distinguished Lecture: “The Obstacles of Leadership in Africa & Prospects for the Future,” His Excellency Antonio Monteiro, Former President of Cape Verde (1991-2001), November 26, 2007, 11th Floor, Campus Center.
The Fire Next Time Colloquium, November 28, 2007: Dr. Whitney Battle-Baptiste, Assistant Professor of Archaeology, Shirley Graham Du Bois Library, 2nd Floor, New Africa House
Leader of the Strategic Alliance of Afro-descendants in Latin America, Jesus “Chucho” Garcia, speaks on “The Afro-Venezuelan Social Movement and the New Left in Latin America,” February 19th, 2008, 12:00 p.m., Shirley Graham Du Bois Library, 2nd Floor, New Africa House
An Evening with the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, February 21st, 2008, 6:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Memorial Hall
14th ANNUAL W.E.B. DU BOIS LECTURE: Arnold Rampersad, author of acclaimed works on W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, and Ralph Ellison, on “W.E.B. Du Bois & Ralph Ellison,” February 28, 2008, 4:30PM, Lower Level, Du Bois Library
Book Party & Signing! Contested Democracy: Freedom, Race, and Power in American History by Manisha Sinha, March 6, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
A Memorial Tribute to Max Roach, 1924-2007, March 25th 2008
Poetry and Short Stories by Keli Stewart, April 23rd , 7:00 p.m., August Savage Gallery
National Hip Hop Conference, “Triggering Change: HipHop, Media, Justice & Social Responsibility,” April 25th and 26th, 2008, School of Management, UMass Amherst
The Fire Next Time Colloquium, April 30, 2008: Dr. Melissa Wooten, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Shirley Graham Du Bois Library, 2nd Floor, New Africa House
Esther Terry Award Event, April 23, 2008
“Look Back and Wonder,” A Documentary Film by Ernest Allen, Jr., April 30, 2008, Room 137, School of Management (part of the Massachusetts Multicultural Film Festival)
Graduation Party 2008, May 23, 2008, Shirley Graham Du Bois Reading Room, New Africa House
Emergent Research Colloquium #1: Pd.D. Student Allia Matta, “Sweet, Nasty, and Sassy: Black Women’s Salt Sprinkles of the African Diaspora,” November 7, 2008, 2PM, 309 New Africa House
DISTINGUISHED LECTURE: William Darity Jr., Professor of African and African-American Studies and Economics, Duke University, on “Forty Acres and a Mule in the 21st Century” November 17, 2008 4PM, Studio Arts Building Commons, UMass Amherst campus. Co-sponsored with the 2008-09 Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series and the Department of History
“Bunker Hill,” Film and Introduction by Director Kevin Willmott, Professor, University of Kansas, November 17, 2008, 7:30PM, Herter Hall, Room 231, UMass/Amherst [PUMA event]
W.E.B. Du Bois Lecture Series/Black Europeans: Race and the New Europe, Professor Dominic Thomas, UCLA, “Immigration and National Identity in the New Europe,” February 5, 2009, 4:30PM, 917 Campus Center. Co-sponsored with the College of Humanities and Fine Arts “Visioning” Grant Recipients, the Program in German and Scandinavian Studies, UMass Amherst.
Opening Reception: “Gems in the Valley: A Toast to Nelson Stevens,” February 9, 2009, 5PM, Augusta Savage Gallery, New Africa House
W.E.B. Du Bois Afro-American Studies Department and the Five College Public School Partnership Black History Month Event: Charles E. Cobb, Jr., “Reflections on the Civil Rights Movement,” February 10, 2009, 2:30PM, 311 New Africa House
Public Engagement Project (PEP) Event: “Working with Social Movements: Lessons from the Front Lines,” February 27, 2009, 2PM. Featuring Sonia Alvarez, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Latin American Studies; M. V. Lee Badgett, Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration; Stephanie Luce, Associate Professor and Acting Chair of the Labor Center; Amilcar Shabazz, Du Bois Department Professor and Chair
Five College Center for Crossroads in the Study of the Americas (CISA) and the Afro-American Studies Department Event: Professor Kwame Dawes, the Louise Frye Scudder Professor of Liberal Arts & Distinguished Poet in Residence, University of South Carolina, on “How Reggae Shaped the Way We Understand History,” February 24, 2009, 7:30PM, Augusta Savage Art Gallery
Du Bois Department, Campus Center Book Store, Vice Provost for Research, Five Colleges, Inc., & the Springfield Public Schools’ Teaching American History Program Black History Month Event: “Remembering Lincoln & the Black Struggle for Freedom in the Age of Obama,” February 23, 2009 5:30PM, Memorial Hall, with John Stauffer, Professor of English, Harvard University, “Douglass, Lincoln, Obama: Influences & Studies, and Manisha Sinha,“Allies for Emancipation: Black Abolitionists and Lincoln,” Chair: John Bracey
Emergent Research Colloquium #2: Professor John Higginson, History Department, “Scorched Earth: The Etiology and Spread of Guerilla Organization in the Western Transvaal, July 1900 to December 1902,” February 20, 2009, 2PM, New Africa House
Film: “Look Back & Wonder” by Professor Ernest Allen, Jr., February 12, 2009, 5:30PM, Malcolm X Cultural Center. Office of Programs and Services for ALANA Students
Black Women & Black Power: A Roundtable on Politics & Art of the 1960s, with Cheryl Clarke, Rutgers University; Andrea Rushing, Amherst College; Daphne Lamothe, Smith College; Dayo Gore & Yemisi Jimoh, UMass; March 12, 2009, 6:30PM, New Africa House
Emergent Research Colloquium #3: Ph.D. student Jim Carroll, “Astro-Blues and Cosmo-Spirituals: Sun Ra the Traditionalist,” March 27, 2009, 2PM, New Africa House
Making Connections: Life After UMass—A Student/Alumni Networking Event featuring Afro-American Studies, STPEC, Labor Center, and WS alums, April 2, 2009, 4PM, Cape Cod Lounge
SYMPOSIUM: “Roots & Routes in Afro-American Studies: Past, Present & Future,” Keynote Talks by Esther Terry and Ekwueme Michael Thelwell, Panels by students and faculty members from the Five College Black Studies Departments, April 25, 2009, 11AM, New Africa House
Emergent Research Colloquium #4: Professor Melissa Wooten, Sociology, “Organizations Unite!: Collective Action & the Formation of the United Negro College Fund,” May 1, 2009, 2PM, New Africa House
Class of 2009 Graduation Celebration: May 22, 2009, 4:30PM, New Africa House
Du Bois Department and Office of Faculty Development’s Mutual Mentoring Initiative Reception: For faculty connected to interdisciplinary programs and departments that address issues of gender, race, and class, October 7, 2009, 4PM, Shirley Graham Du Bois Reading Room, New Africa House
Black Poetry of the 1960s and 70s: Panel of Distinguished Artists featuring Sam Cornish, Everett Hoagland, Sonia Sanchez, Askia Toure, November 19, 2009, 4PM, Campus Center Amherst Room
Du Bois Department and the Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies “Lessons from the Cuban Revolution” Series: Rountable #1—“Contested Visions of Cuba’s Domestic & International Revolutionary Practices,” September 23, 4PM; and Roundtable #2—“Race in Contemporary Cuba: Demographics, Rights, and Culture,” December 1, 2009, 4PM, Campus Center