Department of Pan-African Studies Holds Conference, “Slavery, Colonialism and African Identities in the Atlantic World”

Kent State University’s Department of Pan-African Studies is hosting the conference “Slavery, Colonialism and African Identities in the Atlantic World” on April 26 and 27 at Ritchie Hall.

The keynote speaker is Sylviane Diouf, Ph.D., author of the renowned book “Dreams of Africa in Alabama,” which won the 2009 James F. Sulzby Award of the Alabama Historical Association, was a 2008 Finalist Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and won the 2007 Wesley-Logan Prize of the American Historical Association. She is also author of the acclaimed book “Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas.” Diouf is currently curator at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Her address is titled “Deconstructing and Reconstructing Africans' Identities During Slavery.”

April 26’s events are from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., which are a faculty workshop and reception. Events on April 27 include eight open sessions (see below) and the keynote address, lasting from 8 a.m to 6 p.m.

After the conference, Reggae Night with Akron’s Rhodes Street Rude Boys will be held in the Kent Student Center’s Rathskeller.

Conference registration is $20. Students and faculty are eligible to have the fee waived.

For more information on the conference, please visit www.kent.edu/CAS/PAS/conference/index.cfm. For general information about the Department of Pan-African Studies at Kent State, please visit www.kent.edu/cas/pas.

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Media Contact:
Amoaba Gooden, agooden@kent.edu, 330-672-0149