Check this page for information about upcoming events, including workshops, readings, and invited talks.
Article Workshop - March 16, 2022 at 1:00pm
The American Studies Consortium is delighted to host an article workshop on Wednesday, March 16th from 1-2pm.
Please join us for a discussion of Klara Boger's (PhD candidate, English Language & Literature) paper entitled "Racial Entanglements and the Sites of Modernity in Pauline Hopkins’ Of One Blood: Or, The Hidden Self."
To receive pre-circulated material and the Zoom link, RSVP to Caroline Fernelius (clfern@umich.edu).
Abstract:
Pauline Hopkins’ 1903 novel Of One Blood: Or, The Hidden Self is a complex tale of transatlantic affiliation that simultaneously explores a complex global racial order and the specific social position of African Americans in the post-Emancipation era. In fictionalizing the discovery of an ancient, “lost,” yet thriving city in North Africa known as Telassar, Hopkins aims to speak directly to the so-called “race question” in the United States. In this paper, I explore the ways that Hopkins constructs three racialized spaces in her novel, particularly in relation to colonial modernity: modern day Ethiopia, Telassar, and the United States. I pay particular attention to the ways that Ethiopia and Telassar are specifically orientalized spaces. My paper draws on Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Gene Jarrett’s work on the figure of the “New Negro” and scholarship regarding Hopkins’ critique of colonial knowledge production. In analyzing the complex relationship between these three racialized places, I show how Hopkins’ novel moves beyond simple discourses of recognition and better racial representation to question the very foundation of racialization itself. Ultimately, her novel points to a complex racial order composed more of racial entanglements and less of racial identities.
Article Workshop - October 27, 2021 at 2:00pm
Alex Burnett and Nic John Ramos recently received a revise & resubmit from The Journal of The History of Sexuality for their article, "One Out Gay Cop: Gay Moderates, Proposition 64, and Policing in AIDS Crisis Los Angeles, 1969-92." Please join us for a discussion of their work. In order to receive the paper and a list of questions from the authors, RSVP to either Caroline Fernelius (clfern@umich.edu) or Klara Boger (klboger@umich.edu).
ASC Interest Meeting - September 22, 2021 at 2:00pm
We hope the summer break has offered some rest and relaxation and that the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year has gone smoothly and safely! The American Studies Consortium (ASC) is back again this year with exciting events to look forward to. But we'd also like to hear from you! We'll be holding an interest meeting on Wednesday, September 22 at 2:00pm. This meeting will be held over Zoom. During this meeting, we'll check in with members about their summers as well as share ideas about events we as a workshop would like to hold. Such events include, but are not limited to, reading groups, writing workshops, and attendance of performances or art exhibits. To RSVP to the meeting, please contact Klara Loc-Ling Boger or Caroline Fernelius for more information.