2018-2019 Events
Monday, April 15, 4:45 PM, Neill Hall 226
“African Literature at the Crossroad of Languages.”
Boubacar Boris Diop – Senegalese writer and journalist
Boubacar Boris Diop, will present Acclaimed Senegalese novelist, essayist, and journalist Boubacar Boris Diop will speak about the challenges of African literatures written in colonial, global, and national languages. Diop is the author of eight novels, two novels in wolof, three books of essays, several plays and an opera. Four of his novels and a book of essays have appeared in English translation, including Murambi, the Book of Bones, inspired by his residence in Rwanda following the 1994 genocide of Tutsis. Murambi, the Book of Bones, called “a miracle” by author Toni Morrison, appears on the Zimbabwe International Book Fair’s list of Africa’s 100 best books of the 20th Century. His second novel in wolof, Bàmmeelu Kocc Barma (A Grave for Kocc Barma) was published in 2018. Diop has lectured at many institutions in the world, and has taught at Rutgers University in the US, at Gaston Berger University in Saint Louis, Senegal, and in recent years, he has been teaching literature and creative writing at the American University of Nigeria. He has received many prizes and awards for his writing, including the 2018-19 Stellfox Visiting Scholars and Writers Program Award at Dickinson College.
Monday, March 11, 4:45 PM, Neill Hall 401
Hall Bjornstad
“The King, His Reflection and Us: Reconsidering the Versailles Mirrors”
Hall Bjornstad, Associate Professor of French at Indiana University, will present “The King, His Reflection and Us: Reconsidering the Versailles Mirrors” on Monday, March 11 at 4:45 PM in Neill Hall 401. Ever since its opening in the early 1680s, the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles has been world famous as the most exuberant expression of the glory of the Sun King, Louis XIV. At the time, it was probably the first time those in attendance were able to see their whole reflection in a full-length mirror. This talk reinscribes this momentous event in a wider history of technology, of court society, of political display and symbolism, and of the modern self, while arguing that its most important repercussions may not yet have been recognized.
Monday, November 12 at 4:45 PM – Neill 401
“Envisioning African Futures: Technology, Science Fiction, and Francophone Literature.”
Mahriana Rofheart
Mahriana Rofheart, Assistant Professor at Georgia Gwinnett College, will present “Envisioning African Futures: Technology, Science Fiction, and Francophone Literature.” This talk provides an overview of contemporary trends in African speculative and science fiction through the lens of twentieth and early twenty-first century Francophone African literature. In a recent blog post, author Tade Thompson expresses frustration about the oft-repeated notion that African science fiction is still “rising” or “emerging” in 2018, insisting that “Africans have been writing science fiction since at least the 1920s.” This talk takes up Thompson’s call to recognize the longstanding origins of African science fiction, a concern shared by numerous other contemporary writers of the genre. In particular, the talk addresses speculative and science fictional elements in Francophone African texts by Ken Bugul, Abdourahman Waberi, and Sony Labou Tansi, among others.
Monday, October 29 at 4:45 PM – Neill 401
“May 68 Fifty Years Later: A Contested Legacy”
Joelle Vitiello, Professor at Macalester College, will present “May 68 Fifty Years Later: A Contested Legacy” Was May 68 a student revolt or a workers’ revolution? Was it a success or a failure at changing society? What is left of May 68 today? May 68 in France was a different experience than May 68 in the USA or in Prague. Through a brief context of May 68 in France and a brief review of the events themselves, we’ll look at May 68 from a variety of perspectives and discuss its contested legacy. How much connection is there between May 68 and 2018?
Monday, October 22 at 6:00 pm – Harmon Room/Dewitt Wallace Library
“College Globetrotters of the Mediterranean: From University Activism to Prison Reform in the Franco-Tunisian 1968.”
Dr. Burleigh Hendrickson
Dr. Burleigh Hendrickson from Dickinson College, will present “College Globetrotters of the Mediterranean: From University Activism to Prison Reform in the Franco-Tunisian 1968.”
Monday, October 15, Neill Hall 401 at 4:45 PM
2Fik’s art practice
2Fik
This lecture focuses on 2Fik’s art practice that questions identity, image and perceptions. 2Fik will explain his process in using his falsely caricatural characters in order to break the mold of prejudice and perceptions. Here, his approach of the Dissidence of Identity, or “Dissidentity” shatters the human personality into as many fragments and pieces as experiences, cultures, knowledge, emotions and views expressed in a lifetime. A person is more complex than they look…