A weekend-long conference titled "Race and Representation: A Millennial Affair," sponsored by African and African-American Studies will kick off tonight with a reading by Nobel Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison.
"There's been a lot of dialogue suggesting it is viable to just erase race from our national discourse," said Professor of English and Director of AAAS Karla Holloway in a press release. "But if you go to the heart of the issue, race matters, and we are a far cry from a color-blind nation."
The conference, which is expected to draw more than 300 participants, is aimed at exploring how images of race are interpreted.
Morrison, who will speak at 7:30 p.m. in Page Auditorium, is expected to read from her latest novel, Paradise. There will be a question-and-answer session afterwards.
The conference will continue tomorrow with three panel discussions in Griffith Film Theater. Participants will look at images of blacks found in television, film, broadcast, print media and academia while discussing prominent race issues such as affirmative action.
Jane Gaines, director of Duke's film and video program and associate professor of literature and English, will lead the discussion on film and television at 8:30 a.m.
Those scheduled to join her include actress Debbie Allen; Manthia Diawara, New York University professor of comparative literature and film; and Louis Massiah, an independent documentary filmmaker.
At 10:45 a.m., nationally syndicated columnist Bill Raspberry-also the Knight professor of the practice of communications and journalism at the University-will moderate a panel discussion on blacks in broadcast and print media.
Panelists include ABC News reporter Farai Chieya, NBC News reporter Gwen Ifill, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Professor of Journalism and Mass Communications Walter Spearman and USA Today columnist DeWayne Wickham.
Houston Baker, African American literature scholar and incoming Duke Professor of English, will moderate the discussion concerning images in academics at 2 p.m. John Hope Franklin, James B. Duke professor emeritus of history, who chaired President Bill Clinton's Commission on Race; Hazel Carby, chair of the African American Studies Program at Yale University; and Horense Spillers, Cornell University professor of English Horense Spillers will sit on the panel.
All of Page Auditorium's 1,232 seats have been distributed to students, faculty and conference participants for Friday night's discussion. Those interested in participating in the panels may register at the Gothic Book Shop between 1:30 and 5 p.m. today.
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