Conference Date: Saturday, December 5, 2009 10.00 a.m. – 5.00 p.m
Location: Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Nathan I. Huggins was a leading scholar of slavery, racism, and African American history and a pioneer of African American studies from the 1960s to the 1980s. Despite the sobriety of his area of study, he is remembered by his students, friends, and colleagues for his provocative and playful approach to scholarship and social criticism. His work as the first African American professor of history at Harvard University was motivated by the principle that without understanding the African American experience, one can not hope to understand American history. This conviction led him to publish several seminal works investigating the cultural impact of slavery, bringing to light the richness of the Jazz age, and helping to launch the term ‘Harlem Renaissance.’ Many of his contributions, assertions his contemporaries viewed as radical, have since become pillars of African American studies as an academic discipline. Despite his disciplinary dedication, Huggins’ interests were broad and included music, art, poetry, literature, inter-racial relationships, and cultural studies. The unifying thread throughout his work as scholar and teacher was Huggins’ love of whimsical, surprising, cutting-edge ideas.

This symposium will celebrate the breadth of work that Huggins valued by bringing together scholars and artists from a wide range of disciplines. Noted guests will include Farah Jasmine Griffin, Martha Jane Nadell, Jeffrey Ferguson, and Randall K. Burkett. We will feature both traditional and non-traditional scholarly and performative presentations. Possible themes include but are not limited to: history, literature, film, music, dance, poetry, visual arts, media studies, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, psychology, diasporic studies, religion, public and health policy, women and gender studies. We invite any and all paper / presentation proposals that reflect Huggins’ spirit of eclecticism. Submission from graduate students and practitioners are particularly encouraged.

Please send a one-page abstract outlining a 20-minute presentation as well as brief biographical information to the symposium organizers, Amber Moulton-Wiseman and Chérie Rivers by November 15, 2009.

Please contact the symposium organizers with any questions.

Amber Moulton-Wiseman – amoulton@fas.harvard.edu

Chérie Rivers – crivers@fas.harvard.edu

This symposium is free and open to the public.