American Studies

Opening reception for Tamir Williams’s senior thesis exhibition, Bette, AKA Mammy, Big Momma, Madea & Others Alike: (De)Constructing an American Stereotype Please join Tamir Williams ’16 at M Gallery for the opening of an art exhibition supplementing her American Studies senior thesis on the Mammy stereotype within American society. Her visual interpretations attempt to “flood” this stereotype via scenes that deconstruct and reimagine assumptions about the Mammy’s body, agency, sexuality, and her overall place in American history. Refreshments will be served.

Talk by Dr. Derron Wallace, Brandeis The British educational system is marked by racial and ethnic disproportionality in special education. Black students generally, and Black Caribbean students especially, are at the highest risk of being identified as having social, emotional or behavioral difficulties. Such categorizations often lead to segregated provisions, low attainment and social stigma. Drawing on a 14 month-long comparative ethnography, this presentation explores the creative operation of racism through designations of disability.

In this lunchtime discussion, Elder Napos (David Turney) will reflect on Menominee Nation language preservation efforts. Omaeqnomenewweqnaesen (Menominee Language) an Algonquian language originally spoken by Menominee people in Michigan and northern Wisconsin, currently is highly endangered: there are 4 fluent speakers left out of approximately 9,000 enrolled members. The discussion will focus on historical factors impacting Menominee language use, and current projects that promote language revitalization.

Menominee Nation Elder Napos (David Turney) explains the teachings of the traditional Menominee Belief System, particularly the Seven Gifts as a way of living in the world. His teachings emphasize the central role of space and place, as well as of language, in understanding First Nations worldviews. The Medicine Wheel offers multiple ways to illustrate key, interconnected principles, including harmony, spiritual growth, and emotional, mental, and physical well-being.

This presentation engages with contemporary literature, memoir and public discourse to analyze the troubling and enduring representational entanglements of madness, trauma, and constructions of blackness and whiteness. Sponsored by: American Studies Program , Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity, Academic Enrichment Fund, and Wonnacott Commons

Lecture by George Yancy, Professor of Philosophy at Emory University.

This public presentation explores the anti-peddling campaigns undertaken by a group of elite American deaf people during the late nineteenth until the mid-twentieth century. As historian Octavian Robinson demonstrates, whiteness, class, masculinity, disability and nondisability converged with language politics in this campaign to influence American public policy governing the presence of disabled bodies in public spaces.

Reception for American Studies Seniors and their families in Axinn 242.

Reception for American Studies Seniors and their families in Axinn 242.

Kimberlé Crenshaw, Professor of Law at UCLA and Columbia Law School, is a leading authority in the area of Civil Rights, Black feminist legal theory, racism and the law. Her groundbreaking work on “Intersectionality” has traveled globally and was influential in the drafting of the equality clause in the South African Constitution.