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Harvard Du Bois Institute

The W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research at Harvard University is the nation's oldest research center dedicated to the study of the history, culture, and social institutions of Africans and African Americans. Founded in 1975, the Institute serves as the site for research projects, fellowships for emerging and established scholars, publications, conferences, and working groups. Named after the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard (1895), the Du Bois Institute also sponsors four major lecture series each year and serves as the co-sponsor for numerous public conferences, lectures, readings, and forums.break

http://dubois.fas.harvard.edu/

Edwidge Danticat: The Immigrant Artist at Work

Wed, Nov 17, 2010

Award-winning Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat discusses her reflection on art and exile, *Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work*. Danticat is introduced by Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. What does it mean to be an immigrant artist, especially in relation to one’s country of origin? When that country is suffering–-from violence, poverty, oppression, or disaster–-how does the artists’ responsibility change?

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Sidney Mintz on Puerto Rico

Thu, Apr 24, 2003

Anthropologist Sidney Mintz discusses the political history of Puerto Rico.

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Sidney Mintz on Jamaica

Tue, Apr 22, 2003

Anthropologist Sidney Mintz discusses the history of Jamaica, as the first lecture in a three-part series on the islands of the Caribbean.

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Harvard Du Bois Institute
Reserve Clause: Curtis Flood and Baseball

Thu, Oct 30, 2003

Gerald L. Early, Merle Kling professor of modern letters at Washington University in St. Louis, discusses his cultural observations on Curt Flood, the first player in Major League Baseball to challenge the infamous "reserve clause", which opened the doors to free agency.

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Harvard Du Bois Institute
Race, Sports, and Affirmative Action

Tue, Oct 28, 2003

Gerald L. Early, Merle Kling professor of modern letters at Washington University in St. Louis, discusses his cultural observations on African American athletes. Early traverses a number of subjects in his writing, seemingly without effort, from a study of African American rhetoric to a meditation on boxing, from an historical survey of assimilation to an exploration of Motown.

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Jazz and Modern Africa: Drum Wars

Wed, Nov 19, 2003

Columbia University Professor Robin Kelley discusses what it means to be an African jazz musician, and what political and commercial strings are attached to that description.

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Jazz and Modern Africa: Marabi Modernists

Thu, Nov 20, 2003

Columbia University Professor Robin Kelley explores the political and cultural tensions surrounding jazz in South Africa during the 1950s.

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Jazz and Modern Africa: Spiritual Strivings

Tue, Nov 18, 2003

Columbia University Professor Robin Kelley discusses the need for scholars to establish deep connections between jazz artists and the various movements that presumably influence them.

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Elections, Successions and Post-Literate America

Wed, Oct 27, 2004

A panel of political, media, and education experts explore issues ranging from the use of satire as a political tool to black voter suppression.

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Harvard Du Bois Institute
Beyond Mortal Vision: Harriet Wilson

Fri, Mar 18, 2005

P. Gabrielle Foreman, associate professor of English and American studies at Occidental College; and Reginald H. Pitts, an historical researcher and genealogical consultant, offer groundbreaking information about Harriet Wilson from their Introduction to the 2005 Penguin Classics edition of Wilson's 1859 *Our Nig; or Sketches from the Life of A Free Black*. Wilson was thought to have disappeared from the historical record not long after her novel was published. However, through their scholarly research work, Foreman and Pitts have learned that Wilson lived for almost 40 more years.

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Harvard Du Bois Institute