Now that he has become the presumptive presidential nominee for the Democratic Party ticket, Barack Obama has challenged conventional wisdom about race, politics, media, and generation. In this historic election year, it is imperative for scholars and professionals in a wide variety of disciplines to reflect upon the potential effects of Obama on: American and global public opinion; party politics; voter participation; media representations; international relations; religious discourses; and constructions of racial, ethnic, sexual, and gender identities.
This conference invites papers from scholars and professionals working from different perspectives on the phenomenon of presumptive Democratic Party nominee Barack Obama's political career. Our goal is to create a conference that will showcase various and interdisciplinary approaches to the "Obama Effect" to provide participants with a multi-faceted view of the past year's campaign and its potential effects on a wide range of social arenas.
Essays and research papers from scholars, journalists, political consultants, community activists, and others are desired. Accepted papers will be considered for inclusion in an edited collection. We are particularly interested in receiving papers that address recent developments in the campaign, and seeing papers on the following topics:
Abstracts must be emailed no later than July 18th.
Contact for abstracts or questions:
Dr. Catherine Squires
Cowles Chair for Journalism, Diversity & Equality
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Murphy Hall 111
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN 55455-0418
squir050@umn.edu
1. African American Art (meets Tuesdays from 6-8 pm in Blegen 110 for four weeks, starting June 24). This survey of African American Art will look at art and artists from the early 20th century to the late 20th century. Art from the Harlem Renaissance, Black Arts Movement, and artists such as Adrienne Piper, Kara Walker, Horace Pippin, Aaron Douglas, Archibald Motley, Jr. will be included. The instructor (Ava Herring herr0141@gmail.com) is a doctoral student at the U in art education.
2. Black Folk: Culture Defeats Holocaust, facilitated by Ray Tricomo (rtricomo@yahoo.com). Course Description: We will be covering the proverbial water front from African ecology to Pan-Africanism to improvised music and to a future without racism. Location: Oakdale Village, Oakdale, 6276 12th St. North Day/Time: Tuesday 6-8pm Dates: 4 weeks to start June 17. Ray is a longtime community activist, and has been offering this course for the past couple of years.
EXCO provides opportunities to students, faculty, and community members to facilitate or participate in classes together on topics of importance to them, especially those that they would not otherwise have in traditional university education.
Colloquium Mission
The last few years have seen an extraordinary flowering of Black consciousness in France. Individuals and collectives have organized around questions pertaining to the memory of slavery, "race" and anti-Black racism, the Black condition, and what it generally means to be Black in contemporary French society. At the same time, there has been a new wave of scholarship on Blacks in Europe and a (re)theorizing of "blackness" in the African diaspora relative to European society and history. Paris, in particular, has always been a center of Black life worldwide, from the Negritude movement of the past to the myriad formations of Black empowerment specific to this moment. On June 6 and 7, 2008, a gathering of leading international scholars will meet in Paris to examine "Black France," that is, the Black presence and condition in French society. Madame Christiane Taubira, the esteemed member of the French Parliament whose very name is now synonymous with legislation that recognizes slavery and the slave trade as crimes against humanity &mdash The Taubira Law &mdash will deliver the keynote address as the prelude to an exciting and stimulating series of discussions. All who are interested in the African diaspora and French society are encouraged to attend what will be an historic event.
In director John Barke's debut feature, up-and-coming comedians Kags, Joey, and Dave make it clear that life in the "new" Johannesburg is not just about hardship and townships. It's also about hanging out with friends and celebrating life on a raucous road trip to Oppi Kopp -- South Africa's largest music festival. Shot in a cinema verite style and using the street food "bunny chow" as a metaphor for contemporary Johannesburg's mix of races, cultures, and attitudes, Barker's edgy urban comedy asks us to envision a nation through the eyes of its future rather than the tragedy of its past. (Film info: 2006, South Africa, in Afrikaans, Tsotsi Taal, and English with English subtitles, 95 minutes.)
Tickets to the Walker Art Center's free screening on Thursday, May 15 are available at the Walker Art Center's Bazinet Garden Lobby desk. Tickets for the Saturday, May 17 screening are $8 ($6 for Walker members).
Since he stepped into the national political spotlight at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) has challenged conventional wisdom about race, politics, media, and generation. In this historic election year, it is imperative for scholars and professionals in a wide variety of disciplines to reflect upon the potential effects of Mr. Obama on: American and global public opinion; party politics; voter participation; media representations; international relations; religious discourses; and constructions of racial, sexual, and gender identities.
This conference invites papers from scholars and professionals working from different perspectives on the phenomenon of Senator Obama's political career. Our goal is to create a conference that will showcase various and interdisciplinary approaches to the "Obama Effect" to provide participants with a multi-faceted view of the past year's campaign and its potential effects on a wide range of social arenas.
Submissions from fields such as: history, media studies, journalism, communication studies, political science, philosophy, social justice, African American Studies, ethnic studies, American Studies, sociology, law are welcome. Essays from professional journalists, political consultants, community organizers, and others are also desired.
In a time of rhetorical flourishes and cantankerous punditry, we must also be cautious and circumspect in our analyses of the effects and repercussions of the 2008 campaign. We are also obliged to look back, and scrutinize recent as well as distant histories of politics, race, ethnicity, and culture, to contextualize this moment. At the same time, we should ponder what changes we might expect, and what changes may be too farfetched, in the midst of heady talk auguring Mr. Obama as an agent of radical social transformation.
Submissions should be completed papers (20-25 pages) or extended abstracts (3-5 pages) for works in progress. Works in progress submissions should provide evidence that the paper will be completed by the date of the conference. Papers that are selected for the conference will also be included in a proposal for an edited volume.
Papers should be postmarked no later than June 6th. Applicants should send three (3) paper copies of their paper or extended abstract to:
Dr. Catherine Squires
Cowles Chair for Journalism, Diversity & Equality
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Murphy Hall 111
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN 55455-0418
squir050@umn.edu
Participants will be notified of paper's status no later than July 30th.