Frederick Douglass Fall Symposium
2024 Symposium
September 19-20, 2024
Policing: Blackness and Surveillance
Book Launch: September 19 at 6 p.m.
Writers and Books
740 University Ave
Rochester, NY 14607
Symposium: September 20, 10 a.m to 6 p.m.
Feldman Ballroom
University of Rochester
The Frederick Douglass Institute and the Department of Black Studies will be hosting our annual Fall Symposium and would like to invite you to our upcoming event. The Symposium: Policing: Blackness and Surveillance, will be held Thursday, September 19 and Friday, September 20.
On September 19 at 6 p.m., there will be a book talk by Professor Philip V. McHarris (assistant professor, Department of Black Studies), surrounding his book—Beyond Policing, along with a community discussion. This event will be at Writers and Books (740 University Avenue, Rochester, NY).
On September 20, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., will be our full day conference featuring speakers from across the country, and a film screening of One Million Experiments at 3 p.m. The conference will take place in the Feldman Ballroom at the University of Rochester.
Keynote speaker: Mike Africa Jr.
Guest speakers:
- Bedour Alagraa, UT Austin
- Stephane Andrade, Vassar College
- Shannon Malone Gonzalez, UNC
- Robyn Maynard, University of Toronto
- Jub Sankofa, El Camino College
All are invited to join, and attendance is free and open to the public. We hope that you will join us, in-person or virtually via Livestream (available on 9/20). Program details are available via our program schedule.
RSVP: fdiblackstudiesevents@gmail.com
2023 Symposium
ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION
September 28, 2023, 6 p.m.
NEW Location:
Memorial Art Gallery
Main Auditorium
500 University Avenue
FALL 2023 SYMPOSIUM: BLACK VISUAL CULTURE | BLACK VISUAL LIFE
September 29, 2023, 9-5 p.m.
Location:
Rush Rhees Library
Hawkins-Carlson Room
University of Rochester
We invite you to the 2023 Fall Symposium: Black Visual Culture | Black Visual Life, hosted by University of Rochester’s Frederick Douglass Institute and Department of Black Studies.
This two-day convening will prove to be informative, provocative, and profoundly creative. We invite you to attend our Artists’ Conversation Session (Memorial Art Gallery, September 28, 6 p.m.) and the Black Visual Culture | Black Visual Life Symposium (September 29, 9-5 p.m., Rush Rhees Library Hawkins Carlson Room, University of Rochester campus). On the second day, the Keynote Frederick Douglass Lecture will be delivered by phenomenal artist, Torkwase Dyson. We hope that you will join us, in-person or virtually via Livestream.
2022 Symposium
Black Feminism Unfinished
Friday, September 23, 2022
Hawkins-Carlson Room, Rush Rhees Library, University of Rochester
Free and open to the public
Symposium Schedule
10 a.m.—Keynote Panel 1:
- Erica Williams, Spelman College
- Stefanie Dunning, Miami University-Ohio
- Dora Silva Santana, John Jay College-CUNY
1:30 p.m.—Keynote Panel 2:
- Tamura Lomax, Michigan State University
- Marquis Bey, Northwestern University
- Shoniqua Roach, Brandies University
3:30 p.m.—Frederick Douglass Lecture:
- Sharon P. Holland, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
2021 Symposium
We Have Nothing to Lose But Our Chains: Black Study and its Futures
September 24-25, 2021
Rush Rhees Library, Hawkins-Carlson Room
755 Library Road, Rochester, NY 14626
Free and open to the public
The symposium featured some of the top scholars in the field discussing the trajectory of Black Studies within and outside the academy. For questions call (585) 275-9161 or email fdi@rochester.edu.
Symposium Schedule and Livestream Videos
Friday, September 24
1–3 p.m. Keynote Opening Panel—Introduction by Dean Donald Hall
- “The Futures of Black Study” E. Patrick Johnson (Northwestern University)
- “Flaming: The Art of Enflaming Worship” Alisha Lola Jones (Indiana University)
- “What is Queer about Black Studies?” Marlon Bailey (Arizona State University)
- “Where’s Africa in Black Studies: Extractive Economies & Hot Flesh” Shanti Parikh (Washington University)
- “Towards a Re-enchantment with Black (Queer) Diaspora” Studies Rinaldo Walcott (University of Toronto)
4–5:30 p.m. “Making Sweet Tea”—Screening and Q&A with E. Patrick Johnson; Introduction by President Sarah Mangelsdorf
5:30–6:45 p.m. Inaugural Reception on Eastman Quadrangle
Saturday, September 25
10–11:30 a.m. Keynote Panel Discussion 1—Introduction by Mia Alafareit, FDI Postdoctoral Fellow
- “Policing Blackness: How Intersectional Threat Shapes Black Politics” Jenn M. Jackson (Syracuse University)
- “From the Window to the Wall: The Vicarious Performance of Lil’ John” Gabriel Peoples (Indiana University)
- “Anthropology and the Salvage Slot: E-Waste, African Science, and Black Studies’ Futures” KwameOtu (University of Virginia)
1–2:30 p.m. Keynote Panel Discussion 2—Introduction by Ricardo Millhouse, FDI Postdoctoral Fellow
- “Anticipating Blackness: Nina Simone's Feelings and the Time of Black Ontology” Julius Fleming (University of Maryland)
- ““In All Her Glory”: What Black Trans* Elders Teach Us About the Future of Black Study” Christina Carney (University of Missouri)
- “Looking to Bust In[to] All the Right Places: Blackness and the Sexual Geographies ofHomelessness”
Terrance Wooten (UC-Santa Barbara)
3 p.m. Inaugural Frederick Douglass Lecture—Introduction by Dean Gloria Culver
- “The Necessity of Black Disobedience” Jeffrey Q. McCune, Jr, Director of the FDI
9:30 p.m.–1 a.m. Black Party @ Side Bar, 242 South Ave, Rochester, NY 14604