Symposium on Affrilachia
The symposium is being held to celebrate the intellectual and artistic contributions African Americans have made to Appalachia. The two-days will feature a one-woman show written by Kathy Y. Wilson, "Your Negro Tour Guide," which stars NYC's Torie Wiggins, and an evening concert by the Carolina Chocolate Drops. A keynote lecture by Dr. Paul Taylor and a series of panels and discussions that include topics on August Wilson, Nina Simone, Criminal Justice and the Prison Industrial Complex, Affrilachian visual art, urban Appalachia and a 20th anniversary reading featuring founders of the Affrilachian Poets.
Registration is $35 per person for the two full days. $20 per person for one day. UK students are free.
Pre-registration is now open. Please click here for the registration form. Registration will also be available at the door. We apologize for the inconvience, but credit cards will not be accepted.
| Schedule of Events | |
|
Wednesday, March 9th |
|
| 7:45-8:15 | Registration |
| 8:30-9:45 | Affrilachian Visual Art Presentation, Co-sponsored by UK Art Department Marie Cochran, Mixed media artist, educator, Western Carolina University |
| 10:15-11:15 | Carter G. Woodson Lecture, Co-sponsored by African American Studies & Research Program Dr. Paul Taylor, Professor of Philosophy, Pennsylvaia University "Call Me Out My Name: Inventing Affrilachia" |
| 11:45-1:00 | lunch break |
| 1:00-2:30 | August Wilson Roundtable, Co-Sponsored by William T. Bryan Chair in American Literature & Culture Vershawn Young, (Moderator), UK Department of English and African American Studies Program; Alan Nadel, William T. Bryan Chair in American Literature & Culture, UK; Mark Southers, Associate Director of Theater Initiatives, August Wilson Center for African American Culture; Sandra Shannon, Professor of Afircan American Literature, Criticism, and Drama, Howard University; Kimberly Ellis, Historic Preservation Trust |
| 3:00-4:30 | Criminal Justice and the Prison Industrial Complex panel Viewing of Up the Ridge, a documentary by Nick Szuberia; Randall Horton, Author, editor, educator, University of New Haven Melynda J. Price, Robert E. Harding, Jr. Associate Professor, UK Law School |
| 5:00-6:30 | The Affrilachian Poet 20th Anniversary Founders Reading, Co-sponosored by the English Department Nikky Finney, University of Kentucky Kelly Norman Ellis, Chicago State University Ricardo Nazario y Colon, Western Kentucky University Mitchell Douglas, Indiana University-Purdue University Daundra Harden, Keeper of the Word, Affrilachian Poets Frank X Walker, University of Kentucky Paul Taylor, Pennsylvania State University |
| 6:30-8:00 | dinner break |
| 8:00-9:30 | Your Negro Tour Guide, Co-sponsored by UK Theatre Department Written by Kathy Y. Wilson and starring Torie Wiggins Briggs Theatre, Fine Arts Building |
| All events will be located Room 230 of the UK Student Center Addition unless otherwise noted. | |
| Thursday, March 10th | |
| 7:45-8:15 | Registration |
| 8:30-10:00 | Celebrating Appalachian Diversity in Literature and History: A Presentation by Student Scholars Dr. Theresa Burriss, Chair, Appalachian Studies, Radford University Jesslyn Collins-Frolich, "Reclaiming the Mother: The Female Logics of Documents in the Plays of August Wilson" Craig Slaven, "The Key to the Mountain: Decoding Violence in King Hedley II" Leah Bachmann, "Voicing the Voiceless: Double-Conciousness in When Winter Come" |
| 10:15-11:15 | Defining and Sustaing Urban Appalachia: Culturally, Economically & Artistically: A Panel Discussion Margo Miller (Moderator), Cultural activist/community orgainzer, Appalachian Community Fund Omope Daboiku, Cultural geographer, atist, Urban Appalachian Council Crystal Good, Artist, Director of Brand Experience at Mythology, LLC William Isom II, Flimmaker, photography, farmer Kimberly Ellis, Historic Preservation Trust |
| 11:15-1:00 | lunch break |
| 1:00-2:30 | Nina Simone Panel & Film Adam Banks (Moderator), UK Department of Writing, Rhetroic & Digital Media Nadine Cohodas, author of Princess Noire: The Tulmultous Reign of Nina Simone WS Tkweme, Professor of African American culture and history, University of Louisville |
| 3:00-4:15 | Black Banjo Gathering presentation and film Cece Conway, Professor of Appalachian & Southern Literature, Appalachian State University Dom Femings, Musician, Carolina Chocolate Drops |
| 5:00-6:30 | Legacy Awards Presentations: August Wilson Legacy Award Recipient, Carpetbag Theatre Effie Waller Smith Legacy Award Recipient, Nikki Giovanni Carter G. Woodson Legacy Award Recipient, Dr. William Turner Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong Legacy Award, Sparky and Rhonda Rucker |
| 6:30-7:30 | dinner break |
| 8:30-9:30 | Performance by Carolina Chocalate Drops, Co-sponsored by the Cat's Den, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Cultural Center and the Appalachian Studies Program/Appalachian Center Cat's Den, UK Student Center |
| All events will be located Room 230 of the UK Student Center Addition unless otherwise noted. | |
Paul Taylor will give our Carter G. Woodson Keynote Address entitled “Call Me Out My Name: Inventing Affrilachia.”
Paul C. Taylor is an associate professor of philosophy at Pennsylvania State University, where he also serves as the founding director of the Philosophy After Apartheid program at the Rock Ethics Institute. Professor Taylor received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Morehouse College and his Ph.D. in philosophy from Rutgers University. He writes on aesthetics, race theory, Africana philosophy, pragmatism, and social philosophy, and is the author of the book Race: A Philosophical Introduction (Polity, 2004). He is currently at work on a book called Black is Beautiful: A Philosophy of Black Aesthetics (under contract, Blackwell).
For more information contact:
Frank X. Walker
203G Lafferty Hall
Lexington, KY 40506-0024
859-257-1634
