Presented by the American Studies Program
We are excited that our Keynote Speaker will be Koritha Mitchell on April 29, 2026, at 4pm. She will give a reading from her current project, Blissfully Childfree: A Memoir in Letters. This event will take place in Room 426, 213 Bay State Road, BU Hillel (4th floor).
Following Prof. Mitchell’s lecture, all attendees of this event are invited to the American Studies end-of-year reception in 226 Bay State Road, Room B06.
Previous Programs:
April 8, 2026
2:00 PM (226 Bay State Road, Room 100): A Seminar with Prof. Hunziker’s pre-circulated paper entitled “Playing Indian: Filipino and Puerto Rican Students at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.” Prof. Lowe responded and guided discussion.
5:00 PM (BU Hillel, 213 Bay State Road, Room 426): A public talk by Lisa Lowe: “American Studies and Colonial Histories of the Present.”
October 29, 2025
2:00 PM: A works-in-progress seminar with Jilene Chua (BU, History) with a response from Neferti Xina Tadiar (Barnard College). Prof. Chua’s paper will be pre-circulated to registered attendees; it is entitled “Minor Daughters, Merchants’ Wives, and Single Women, 1916-1939.” This event took place in Room 110, 226 Bay State Road.
5:00 PM: A public talk with Neferti Xina Tadiar (Barnard College): “This Bridge of Earth.” (Registration not required.) This event took place in CAS Room 132, 725 Commonwealth Avenue.
2023-2024
November 9, 2023
5:00 PM: A public talk with Victoria E. Johnson, “If You Build It…”: The Sports Experience Economy and “Flyover” Dreams.”
February 28, 2024
2:00 PM: A seminar with Takeo Rivera (BU, English), who discussed a pre-circulated chapter, “Another Joke is Possible: Kristina Wong and Mutual Aid Carnivalesque,” with Diana Taylor (New York University) responding.
5:00 PM: Public talk with Diana Taylor, “Zuckerberg’s Smile or Presence in the Age of Digital Technologies.”
May 1, 2024
4:00 PM: Keynote lecture by Nazli Kibria (BU, Sociology), “Model Minority and Brown Threat: South Asians in the U.S. Racial Landscape.”
2022-2023
November 8, 2022
2:00 PM, Seminar with Andrew Robichaud (BU History), who discussed a pre-circulated chapter, “Frozen Time: Ice and the Political Economy of Dead Meat,” with Walter Johnson (Harvard University) responding.
5:00 PM, Public talk with Walter Johnson, “John Brown’s Economy.”
February 9, 2023
2:00 PM: Seminar with Ianna Hawkins Owen (BU, English) and Christina Sharpe (York University), responding. In this seminar, we discussed a pre-circulated paper by Prof. Owen entitled “Sweating Diaspora.”
5:00 PM: Public talk with Christina Sharpe, “Ordinary Notes.”
April 20, 2023
4:00 PM: Keynote with Anita Patterson (BU English)
2021-2022
February 10
2:00 PM: Seminar with Ross Barrett (BU, History of Art), and Alan Braddock (William & Mary) responded. In this seminar, we discussed a pre-circulated paper by Prof. Barrett entitled “Painting and Property on Prout’s Neck.”
5:00 PM: public lecture by Alan Braddock, “Black Landscapes: Artistic Origins of Environmental Justice and Dilemmas of Decolonization.”
March 3
2:00 PM; Seminar with Paula Austin (BU, History & Af-Am Studies), and Cheryl Hicks (University of Delaware) responded. In this seminar, we discussed a pre-circulated paper by Prof. Austin entitled “‘Thugs in Uniform or Why Must Such Extreme and Fatal Force Be Used’: Black DC’s Campaign to End Police Violence 1919 – 1970.”
5:00 PM; public lecture by Cheryl Hicks, “‘A Woman of This Stamp’: Sexual Politics and Black Progressive-Era Activism.”
April 21
4:00pm; Keynote Address by André de Quadros (BU, Music), “The Exilic Condition in America: A Personal Encounter with Power, Asymmetry, and Border Crossings.”