FDI lecture series builds partnerships

Angela Dillard, assistant professor of history and politics at NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, discusses multicultural conservatism at the April 18 talk, cosponsored by the Frederick Douglass Institute and the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures.

talk hosted by the political science department on democracy and the case for reparations by Lawri Balfour of the University of Virginia on May 3 marked the culmination of the second season of the Frederick Douglass Institute's Visiting Speakers Series.

Specifically designed to build partnerships to promote diversity and interdisciplinary study, the series hosted 23 events in its 2001-02 season ranging from lecture, to film, to roundtable discussion. Presenting a wide range of topics and a spectrum of racial and social perspectives, the series resulted in a collaboration of more than 20 College departments and community organizations.

"There is a mutual benefit from multidisciplinary activities that accrues to our partners, our students, our community," says Larry Hudson, institute director and associate professor of history. "The institute is designed to facilitate those partnerships. It is through these relationships that we bring about change in the intellectual climate, a cultural change wherein the issues being discussed under the broad umbrella of African and African-American studies become attractive to other departments and naturally bring them toward the work we're doing."

Highlights of the season include a presentation by the Navajo Code talkers of WWII, a joint venture of more than eight departments and organizations; a reading by poet and novelist Nathaniel Mackey cosponsored with the English department; and a talk by Frank Wu, Howard University School of Law's first Asian-American professor, supported by both University and community organizations.

The third season, slated to kickoff in the fall, promises to build on the relationships forged.

The Speakers Series, Hudson adds, "will be broad, deep, flexible--something to which diverse members of the College can contribute."

Maintained by University Public Relations
Please send your comments and suggestions to:
Public Relations.