Image
<< Back to Annual Report Main Page
We were busy last year! Here is a list of over 90 public events - lectures, conversations, panels, symposia, conferences, film screenings, and performances - hosted by the FHI and our Labs and affiliated units. In addition, we have included smaller group activities such as manuscript workshops and reading groups. Also check out the full episode list of the web series Left of Black, which included 3 live events this past year.
FHI SIGNATURE EVENTS
More information | Video playlist
Oct 14, 2022 | "Prison of the Womb: Gender, Incarceration & Capitalism in Colonial West Africa" | Sarah Balakrishnan, History
Oct 21 | "The Love Languages of Black Fatherhood" | Mark Anthony Neal, African & African American Studies
Oct 28 | "SWAMP" | Shambhavi Kaul, Art, Art History, and Visual Studies
Nov 4 | “‘She Could Work Out Some Arrangement’: Writing the Black Sartorial Imagination with Nella Larsen” | Kimberly K. Lamm, Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies
Nov 11 | "The New Negro, a Double Act: More Notes from the 'Black Below'" | Douglas Jones, English and Theater Studies
Nov 18 | "Divisive Affect, Loyalty, and National Cohesion: Du Bois contra Wagner" | Stefani Engelstein, German Studies
Jan 20, 2023 | "(Her) Breast is Best: Mothers and Wet-Nurses in Roman Africa" | Cassandra Casias, Classical Studies
Jan 27 | "Listening Incommensurably: the Impossibility of Sounding 'Out' from Queer Taiwanese Toronto" | Yun Emily Wang, Music
Feb 10 | "Political Vice in Plato" | Wenjin Liu, Philosophy
Feb 17 | "'Must Be Heavyset': Casting, Size, and the Body Politics of Broadway Musicals" | Ryan Donovan, Theater Studies
Mar 3 | "Childhood, Slavery, and Fugitivity in the Age of Revolution" | Annette Joseph-Gabriel, Romance Studies
More information | Video playlist
Feb 2, 2023 | "John Hope Franklin: Hope at the BBC" | Tony Phillips, Radio Producer/Editor/Consultant
Feb 3 | In Conversation: Tony Phillips, Mark Anthony Neal, and John Gartrell
Jan 19, 2023 | MamaRay: A Panel on the Anthropocene and Afro-Futurism | Michaeline Crichlow, Gustavo Furtado, Richard Powell, Felwine Sarr, Priscilla Wald, Trevor Schoonmaker - Video
Sept 22, 2022 | “Shakespearean Futures: Casting the Bodies of Tomorrow on Shakespeare's Stages Today” | Amy Cook, Stony Brook University
Feb 13, 2023 | “The Problem of Failure” | Irving Goh, Emory University
Feb 24 | Atlantic Latinidades or Models for Trans-Oceanic Engagement: A Symposium - More information
Co-sponsored by the Office of Global Affairs, Novel, Department of English, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Africa Initiative, John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute @ Duke University; Latina/o Studies Program, UNC Chapel Hill
Mar 27 | "The Bloomsbury Indians" | Susheila Nasta, Queen Mary College, University of London
Mar 28 | "Decolonizing the Curriculum" | Ranjana Khanna & Susheila Nasta in conversation
Mar 29 | Keohane Distinguished Lecture: "Moving Beyond Fighting Anti-Asian Racism" | Pawan Dhingra, Amherst College - More information
Presented by the Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professorship at Duke and UNC; co-sponsored by Asian & Middle Eastern Studies; Asian American and Diaspora Studies; John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute
Apr 3 | "Undoing Apartheid" | Premesh Lalu, University of the Western Cape
Apr 20 | A Celebration of the Scholarship of Diane Nelson (1963-2022) - More information | Video
Presented by the Department of Cultural Anthropology; co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute, Office of Global Affairs, Department of Romance Studies
Dec 1, 2022 | Wylin Wilson, Assistant Professor of Theological Ethics, Divinity School
Feb 28, 2023 | Denise Comer, Director and Professor of the Practice, Thompson Writing Program
Mar 31 | J. Lorand Matory, Lawrence Richardson Distinguished Professor of Cultural Anthropology
May 10 | Kata Gellen, Associate Professor of German Studies
Sept 9, 2022 | Federal Humanities Information Session - Co-sponsored by the Franklin Humanities Institute, the Office of Campus Research Development, and the Campus Grants Management Team
Jan 26, 2023 | FHI Graduate Student Open House & Opportunities Fair
Entanglement Project
Image
More information | Video playlist
In addition to public lectures listed below, all CCDGB guest speakers held intensive workshop discussions with Lab faculty and students. In the Spring semester, the series ran in conjunction with Lab Director Michaeline Crichlow's graduate seminar. The series was co-sponsored by the Nicholas School of the Environment and the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability.
Sept 15, 2022 | "Ancestral Claims" | Denise Ferreira da Silva, University of British Columbia
Sept 29 | "The Slave Plantation: Environment, History and Cycles of Capital Accumulation" | Dale Tomich, Binghamton University - see more in Michaeline Crichlow's reflection
Oct 27 | "The Climate of Theory: Hurricanes, Slave Skeletons, Tidalectics" | Anny-Dominique Curtius, University of Iowa
Jan 19, 2023 | "Sahara Haze: Harmattan Wind & Tropospheric Histories" | May Joseph, Pratt Institute
Feb 9 | "No Empires, No Wastelands: The Necessity of Forging a Real Ecological Solidarity for the 21st Century" | Hannah Holleman, Amherst College
Feb 16 | "Plantations Are Not Forests" | Danielle Purifoy, UNC Chapel Hill
Mar 2 | "Brown Is the New Green: 'Natural' Disasters, Marginalization and Planetary Health" | Brian McAdoo, Duke University
Mar 9 | "Coloniality, Global Race/ Racism and Climate Changes/ Ecological Disasters: A Decolonial Take" | Walter Mignolo, Duke University
Mar 30 | "Writing Against the Colonial Anthropocene" | Macarena Gómez-Barris, Brown University
Apr 6 | "Against Terricide: Envisioning Paths towards Pluriversal Transitions" | Arturo Escobar, UNC Chapel Hill, emeritus / Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
Image
Fall 2022 & Spring 2023 | Strange Life Working Group meetings - See Priscilla Wald and Sharon Kunde's reflections on the Working Group in "Program Highlights"
Feb 27, 2023 | "Algorithm to Krishna Consciousness" | Poulomi Saha, UC Berkeley
Humanities Laboratories
Image
More information | Video playlist
Fall 2022 & Spring 2023 | Amazon Lab Reading Group meetings - See Gustavo Furtado's reflection in "Program Highlights"
Nov 4 2022 | "Art, Music and Defense of the Territory in the Amazon: The Protagonism of Indigenous Women" | Vandria Borari & Neila Borari (As Karuana / MUTAK) with Maria Fantinato G. Siqueira, Duke University
Feb 27 2023 | An Inter-American Conversation on Indigeneity, Art & Education | Gustavo Caboco (Wapichana), artist; Jessica Clark (Lumbee), artist; Wesley Nóog, musician; Jamille Pinheiro Dias, University of London / von der Heyden Fellow, Amazon Lab
Mar 3 | Amazon Film Series – Uýra: The Rising Forest
Mar 24 | Amazon Film Series – Los Silencios
Mar 25 | Amazon Film Series – Three Short Films by Ana Vaz
Mar 30 | "The Unaffordable Social and Ecological Impacts of Artificial Intelligence" | Luis I. Prádanos (Iñaki), Miami University
Mar 30, Mar 31, Apr 3 | Translation, Media and Cosmopolitics: A Colloquium
Apr 6-8 | Contemporary Epistemologies of Moving Images: Graphs, Diagrams and Topographies (hybrid conference co-sponsored by the lab, with a panel on “Counter-Visualities of the Amazon” featuring members of the lab)
Image
More information | Video playlist
Sept 12, 2022 | "'He...has the ends of both his great toes frozen off'*: Enslaved and Free Black Presence, Experience and Representation in the Quebec Winter" | Charmaine A. Nelson, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Oct 19 | "On Enslavement, Decolonization, and Freedom" | Lewis R. Gordon, University of Connecticut
Nov 15 | "The Root of the Matter": A Conversation with artist Alison Saar and Jasmine Cobb
Feb 22, 2023 | Back to Natural: Film Screening and Talk Back with Director Gillian Scott-Ward, PhD
Mar 27 | "Between Reparations and Freedom": A Masterclass with Rinaldo Walcott, University at Buffalo
Apr 3 | "The Reinvented Life of Belle da Costa Greene": A Masterclass with Tracy Denean Sharpley-Whiting, Vanderbilt University
Apr 14 | "Black Queer Studies: A Genealogy": A Masterclass with E. Patrick Johnson, Northwestern University
Image
Sept 9, 2022 | “Manuscript Fragmentation Across Cultures” | Lisa Davis, Medieval Academy of America; Christopher Nugent, Williams College; Akiko Walley, University of Oregon; moderated by Matthew Hayes & Clare Woods, Duke - see Lab Co-Directors' reflection in "Program Highlights"
Oct 7 | “The Tweed Collection of Ethiopic Manuscripts” (Online Seminar) | Gay L. Byron, Howard University / Humanities Unbounded Affiliate with Alice Ogden Bellis, Howard University; Steve Delamater, George Fox University; Ralph Lee, University of London
Jan 23, 2023 | Affiliate Presentation | Lyla Halsted, Art, Art History & Visual Studies
Feb 6 | Verne and Tanya Roberts Conservation Lab Visit & Reception
Feb 20 | Affiliate Presentation | Emily Gebhardt, History
March 13-17, 2023 | Authoritative Texts and Their Reception Seminar, Athens, Greece | Sponsored by University of Oslo and the Norwegian Research Council, “Digital Humanities 2.0.” Presentations by Naomi Nelson, Andy Armacost, Jenny Knust, and Maroun El Houkayem.
Mar 20 | Affiliate Presentation | Brogan Hannon, Religious Studies
Apr 3 | Affiliate Presentation | Nick Wagner, Classical Studies
Apr 13, 2023 | “Greek Manuscripts at the University of Michigan: Their Origin, Provenance, and Research Value” | Pablo Alvarez, University of Michigan; Nadezhda Kavrus-Hoffman, Independent Scholar. Followed by Apr 14 Lab affiliates workshop.
Apr 24 | “The Subscriptions to Mark’s Gospel and their History of Reception” | Tommy Wasserman, Ansgar University College, Norway
Centers & affiliates
Nov 17 & Dec 1, 2022 | PhD Lab DH Summer Research Symposium
Jan 20, 2023 | "What do we mean when we say language models are biased?" | Evan Donahue, University of Tokyo
Spring 2023 | Digital Literature and Culture Working Group meetings | Organized by Tanja Grubnic
More information | Video playlist
Sept 14 | Recalling Warren County: Discussing the Birth of a Movement | La'Meshia Whittington (Moderator), Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Jr., Dollie Burwell, Wayne Moseley, Rev. William Kearney, Jenny Labalme, Former Rep. Eva Clayton - co-sponsored by the DHRC@FHI with other partners
Sept 15 | Environmental Justice: Past, Present and Future | Rev. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. in conversation with Catherine Coleman Flowers – co-sponsored by the DHRC@FHI with other partners
Sept 29 | Environmental Justice in the Latinx Community | Bryan Parras, Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Ana Ramirez
Oct 26 | Rights! Camera! Action! Film Series – The Law in These Parts
Nov 10 | Rights! Camera! Action! Film Series – Mossville: When Great Trees Fall
Jan 19, 2023 | Rights! Camera! Action! Film Series – Reversing Roe
Feb 22 | Juan E. Méndez Book Award Ceremony with Francesca Lessa, author of The Condor Trials: Transnational Repression and Human Rights in South America (Yale UP, 2022)
Mar 8 | Rights! Camera! Action! Film Series – Nasrin
Mar 23| Global Ideas, Local Impact: DHRC Alumni Panel | Amelia Chatham, Alisha Pollastri, Stacie Siebrecht, Zack Fowler
Apr 14 | Re-entry Simulation – co-organized by DHRC@FHI and OurJourney, a North Carolina non-profit founded by formerly incarcerated people
More information | Video playlist
Sept 7, 2022 | Listening Session with Dasan Ahanu: Saul Williams albums
Sept 8 | Screening of Neptune Frost
Sept 23 | How I Write: A Conversation with Eileen Chow
Oct 12 | Contemporary Conversations in Christianity: Diana Butler Bass with Elizabeth Schrader Polczer - for more on this series, organized by Anne Firor Scott Fellow Schrader Polczer, see Lou Brown's reflection in "Program Highlights"
Oct 28 | Feeding Community: Lunch and Discussion with the Owner-Chefs of Bon Fritay
Nov 16 | Contemporary Conversations in Christianity: Beth Allison Barr with Elizabeth Schrader Polczer
Jan 27 | How I Write: A Conversation with Abbas Benmamoun
Feb 15 | Contemporary Conversations in Christianity: Khyati Y. Joshi with Elizabeth Schrader Polczer
Mar 7 | Scholars Discuss “Becoming Human” with Author Rev. Dr. Luke A. Powery
Mar 8 | Human Rights Audio Documentary Award: Leonard: Political Prisoner with producers/hosts Rory Owen Delaney and Andrew Fuller with special guest Chase Iron Eyes
Apr 12 | Contemporary Conversations in Christianity: James Martin, S.J. with Elizabeth Schrader Polczer
Season 13 episodes
Oct 13, 2022 | Episode 1: Season 13 Premiere: "Read Until You Understand" with Dr. Farah Jasmine Griffin - live event at NorthStar Church of the Arts
Oct 20 | Episode 2: Filmmaker Byron Hurt on HAZING
Oct 27 | Episode 3: "Small Talk at Rofhiwa" with Maurice O. Wallace on Dr. King's Cadence - live event at Rofhiwa Book Cafe
Nov 3 | Episode 4: Afro-Optimism and Black Chicago with Ayana Contreras
Nov 10 | Episode 5: Celebrating "Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination" with Robin D.G. Kelley
Nov 17 | Episode 6: Abolishing the Child Welfare System with Dorothy E. Roberts
Nov 24 | Episode 7: Hip-Hop Producer Ninth Wonder
Dec 1 | Episode 8: Black Women's Buying Power with Aria Halliday
Dec 8 | Episode 9: Queer Aesthetics in Hip Hop and Beyond with Shanté Paradigm Smalls
Dec 15 | Episode 10: E. James West on the Black Press of Chicago
Dec 23 | Episode 11: Dean of Duke Chapel Rev. Dr. Luke Powery on Becoming Human
Jan 12, 2023 | Episode 12: Sophia Chang on "The Baddest Bitch in the Room"
Jan 19 | Episode 13: Dr. Julius B. Fleming, Jr. on "Black Patience" and the Struggle for Civil Rights
Jan 26 | Episode 14: "Requiem for the Enslaved" with Composer Carlos Simon and Rapper Marco Pavé
Feb 2 | Episode 15: Black Women and Yoga with Dr. Stephanie Yvette Evans
Feb 16 | Episode 16: Dr. Jordanna Matlon on Black Masculinity and Racial Capitalism
Feb 23 | Episode 17: Dr. Tara T. Green on the Life of Alice Dunbar-Nelson
Mar 2 | Episode 18: Dr. Miriam Thaggert on Black Women and the Railroad
Mar 9 | Episode 19: Dr. Casarae Abdul-Ghani on Civil Unrest and the Black Arts Movement
Mar 17 | Episode 20: Dr. Kimberly Mack & Groundbreaking Black Rock Band Living Colour's Album "Time's Up"
Mar 24 | Episode 21: Sheryll Cashin on the Systemic Taking of Resources from Marginalized Communities
Mar 30 | Episode 22: Dr. Christina Greene on the Incredible Story of Joan Little
Apr 6 | Episode 23: "Small Talk Rofhiwa" with Author Chantal James - live event at Rofhiwa Book Cafe
Apr 14 | Episode 24: Dr. Rinaldo Walcott on Black Studies and the Long Emancipation - in conjunction with From Slavery to Freedom Lab masterclass series
Apr 28 | Episode 25: Dr. Tracy Denean Sharpley-Whiting on the Importance of Libraries - in conjunction with From Slavery to Freedom Lab masterclass series
May 5 | Episode 26: Mark Anthony Neal on Black Ephemera and the Crisis of the Musical Archive - event at City College of New York
May 12 | Episode 27: Exploring Black Operas with Naomi André
May 19 | Episode 28: Thulani Davis on Networks of Freedom during Reconstruction
May 25 | Episode 29: Dr. Stephen C. Finley on Farrakhan's Mother Wheel in the Nation of Islam
June 2 | Episode 30: Dr. E. Patrick Johnson on the Future of Black Studies in the University
June 8 | Episode 31: Season 13 Finale with Dr. Marc Lamont Hill
Faculty & graduate working groups
Spanning the calendar year 2022, Minor Aesthetics was an FHI Faculty Working Group convened by Anna Storti (Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies) and Yun Emily Wang (Music)
Oct 12-13, 2022 | Minor Aesthetics: Queer, Asian, Diasporic - A Symposium featuring Chanel Matsunami Govreau & Jae Quisol, Artists-in-Residence - More information
Co-organized by Wesley Hogan (FHI, Duke) and Vance Byrd (German, University of Pennsylvania), the Reckoning and Justice Working Group began in January 2022 and met biweekly over Zoom over the next eighteen months.
May 19-21, 2023 | Memory Workers Work Group & Conference
Contemporary Poetics is a working group convened by Tess Bosolver and Michael Cavuto, doctoral students in the Department of English
Mar 30, 2023 | Solarities #1: a contemporary poetry reading series | Asiya Wadud and Roberto Tejada