In a continuation of the Frederick Douglass Institute's Distinguished Visiting Speakers Series at the University of Rochester, Michelle Stephens, assistant professor of English at Mt. Holyoke College, will give a lecture titled "Transnational Black Intellectuals." The event will occur at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 1, in the Welles-Brown Room on the River Campus.
Stephens will lecture about the links among black intellectuals in the African Diaspora. She is currently at work on a new book titled Black Empire: The New Negro and the Re-routing of America. The book will discuss the writings of three black transnational intellectuals-Marcus Garvy, Claude McKay, and C.L.R. James-and their novel conceptions of both black identity and American nationality.
Stephens joined the Mount Holyoke English department faculty in January 1999, and teaches American, African-American, and Caribbean literature. She holds a doctorate in American Studies from Yale University.
For more information on the Distinguished Visiting Speakers Series, contact the Fredrick Douglass Institute at (585) 275-7800.