Post-Racial America?
An Interdisciplinary Conversation
The Griot Institute for Africana Studies at Bucknell University announces the conference, Post-Racial America?: An Interdisciplinary Conversation, to be held Nov. 9 and 10, 2012, at Bucknell in Lewisburg, PA. Please join us.
If "post-racial" means to live in a space where race is no longer significant or important, we might imagine that this sort of utopian ideal would be difficult to create and maintain, given the history of racism in the U.S. Yet the election of President Barack Obama in 2008 — along with other cultural changes and events — has led many to ponder the possibility of a post-racial America. Does "post-racial" imply that race has become less determinative in American culture? If so, what are the manifestations and consequences of that change? Alternatively, is the concept of post-raciality another manifestation of the mask — a way of burying the persistence of racism under the veneer of progress, inclusion, and diversity? Given the salience of the idea of post-raciality, the Griot Institute for Africana Studies will gather scholars and artists to explore these and other questions at our interdisciplinary mini-conference to be held in the direct wake of the upcoming 2012 election - another locus for the post-racial debate. This will be a generative, intimate conversation about this most public and controversial topic.
→ Conference Schedule Now Available! Click HERE to View ←
To attend, please:
Our keynote speaker will be Farah Jasmine Griffin, the William B. Ransford Professor of English and Comparative Literature and African-American Studies at Columbia University. Dr. Griffin received her Ph.D. from Yale University. She is the author of Who Set you Flowin - The African-American Migration Narrative (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995) as well as If You Can't Be Free, Be a Mystery. In Search of Billie Holiday (New York: The Free Press, 2001) and Clawing at the Limits of Cool: Miles Davis, John Coltrane and The Greatest Jazz Collaboration Ever (Thomas Dunne Press, 2008). Her most recent book, Harlem Nocturne: Black Women Artists and Politics in Mid-Century New York, will be published by Basic Books in 2013.
Click here to view and print out the full-size conference poster.
The Conference registration is $55 and will include two dinners. The conference registration is online. To register, please:
- Download and complete the conference registration form, found HERE.
- Save the completed document to your computer.
- Click the "Register Now" button (above) to access the conference registration site.
- Upload your registration form and pay the conference registration fee.
You will receive a confirmation e-mail upon successful registration.
Students wishing to attend the conference may participate for $25 and must register on-site at the conference the evening of Nov. 9 or the morning of Nov. 10. See conference schedule for details (The conference schedule will be posted on this page by Sept. 30.)
The conference hotel is the Country Inn and Suites. Rooms are available for conference presenters and attendees at a discounted rate. For reservations, call the hotel directly and ask for the conference rate for the Bucknell University/Griot Institute Post-Racial Conference. To receive the conference hotel rate, reservations must be confirmed by Oct. 18, 2012. For Country Inn and Suites, please call:
Reservations: 1-800-596-2375 US/Canada Toll-free Telephone: 570-524-6600
Lewisburg, PA, 17837
Bucknell University is located in Lewisburg, Pa., approximately three hours from metropolitan New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. The closest airports are Williamsport, Pa.; State College, Pa.; and Harrisburg, Pa.
Please contact the Griot with any questions at griot@bucknell.edu or call 570-577-2123.
