The Center for the Humanities and the Department of African and African American Studies, both in WashU Arts & Sciences, will host a yearlong Sawyer Seminar on “Black Studies and the Future of the American University.”
Sawyer Seminars support comparative research on the historical and cultural factors in current affairs. The WashU series will feature 12 guest speakers throughout the fall and spring semesters. A related course, “Black Intellectual Traditions, Democracy, and the American University,” which is open to both graduate and undergraduate students, is offered through African and African American Studies.
“Our central questions are: How can Black studies — its historical emergence and long struggles to secure institutional sustainability, its theoretical and methodological groundings in the humanities and its engaged intellectual practice — inform processes aimed at sustaining academic freedom?” said Shanti Parikh, a professor and immediate past chair of African and African American studies and professor of sociocultural anthropology. “How might the work of those scholars assist the university in reimagining democratic processes?”
Parikh is one of three co-conveners, along with Marlon M. Bailey, chair of African and African American studies and a professor of women, gender and sexuality studies; and Stephanie Kirk, director of the Center for the Humanities and a professor of Spanish and of comparative literature, all in Arts & Sciences.
“Ensuring the freedom of knowledge production and the inclusion of diverse histories, perspectives and cultures strengthens higher education and enriches democratic engagement,” Kirk said. “Rigorous research that examines complex histories, social challenges and community responses deepens our collective understanding and drives new insights that shape a more just society.”
Added Bailey: “We believe that WashU — as a community and as a university — is primed for these conversations and considerations. New initiatives have put significant resources behind supporting Black studies as well as deepening community ties with the broader St. Louis region. Our Sawyer Seminar creates both a convening space and a call to action.”
Events will begin Sept. 10 with a talk by internationally known scholar and activist Angela Davis, a distinguished professor emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Next, on Sept. 17, will be Davarian Baldwin, a professor at Trinity College and author of “In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower” (2021), followed by Devon Carbado, the Elihu Root Professor of Law at New York University Law School, Oct. 8.
Other guests will include Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones (Nov. 12), Khalil Gibran Muhammad of Princeton University (March 25) and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor of Princeton University (May 6).
All talks and events are free and open to the public but RSVPs are required. To register, or for a complete list of speakers, dates and topics, visit the Center for the Humanities or Department of African and African American Studies websites.
