The Black Humanities Collective:
Reading the Past, Writing the Future
News: Click here for information on the 2009 Black Humanities Collective Symposium
The Black Humanities Collective is an interdisciplinary graduate student and faculty organization at the University of Michigan dedicated to the qualitative study of Africa and its Diaspora.
Mission : In the interest of affirming and improving the University's commitment to excellence in the humanities, we have founded the Black Humanities Collective, an interdisciplinary organization dedicated to the intellectual and professional development of persons at the University of Michigan studying Africa and its Diaspora. We see this collective as an avenue through which developing scholars can establish and nurture relationships across fields, sub fields, and respective years of graduate and post-graduate training. Such relationships, we believe, provide the intellectual foundation necessary for creative and innovative work in the humanities and will grant participants a forum within which to craft their professional skills and claim greater mastery over the constellation of factors that constitute an academic career.
At monthly meetings, the Black Humanities Collective addresses questions of fellowship preparation, invites seasoned instructors to speak on the politics of teaching black subject matter, and seeks to tap into the experiences of Michigan Alumni currently pursuing careers in the humanities. Through these meetings, the collective also keeps its members abreast of activities pertinent to their professional development, and members will use the collective as an intellectual sounding board for presenting conference papers, practicing job talks, and submitting other works in progress for the purpose of peer review.
Lastly, the Black Humanities Collective stands on the principles of peer mentoring, for even in a profession that rewards the fruits of private contemplation and solitude, informal peer mentoring often provides the
safest and most consistent space for testing ideas, developing one's voice, and maturing as a scholar. We gather in the interests of these principles in an effort to nurture collegiality and we work with the intention of pushing forward our respective disciplines.
“Heart of the City: Black Urban Life on ‘THE WIRE’” January 29-30, 2009
with featured guests
Clark Johnson, (“Gus Haynes”) and Sonya Sohn, (“Kima Greggs”)Critically acclaimed and nationally syndicated, HBO’s series ‘The Wire’ depicts a racialized postindustrial cityscape, marred by the brutal provenance of the drug economy. In its five seasons, the series is as much a dramatic achievement as it is a complex portrait of a black urban experience. Featuring a predominantly black cast, ‘The Wire’ is an exceptional cultural text from which to examine a wide range of urban issues, to be approached from literary, historical, political, and sociological perspectives.
This symposium proposes a critical consideration of ‘The Wire’, which treats the show as both a topic and a model of critique. Our aim is to create a space that is open and interdisciplinary. Graduate students, professors, and independent scholars working in the Humanities, the Arts, Social Sciences, Public Policy, and elsewhere are encouraged to join this collective discussion. In this sense, ‘The Wire’ can serve as a common point of discussion, as a viable vehicle of social engagement in its own right and a text worthy of careful and extended investigation.
Sponsored by the Black Humanities Collective and the Center for Afroamerican & African Studies at the University of Michigan, in conjunction with The Center for World Performance Studies, Program in American Culture, Department of Communication Studies, Department of English Language and Literature, Department of History, The Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs and The Trotter Multicultural Center, Rackham Interdisciplinary Workshop, Department of Urban and Regional Planning and the Department of Women's Studies.
On-site Registration will begin Thursday, January 29, 2009. Email questions to Heart of the City Symposium .
Kevin Gaines, Director
University of Michigan Center for Afroamerican and African Studies
505 S. State St.| 4700 Haven | Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1045 | (734) 764-5513
| Fax (734)763-0543
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