Second Winter Institute on Black Studies to feature African American Museum Director from Smithsonian Institute

Conference brings together scholars and professionals to discuss history of race in America

University of Hawaiʻi
Contact:
Kathryn Takara, (808) 956-7067
Office of International Education
Posted: Dec 7, 2006

HONOLULU- The Faculty of African Descent (FAD) at the University of Hawaiʻi- Mānoa will present the Second Winter Institute on Black Studies, January 11-12, 2007, at the East-West Center‘s Imin International Conference Center on the Mānoa campus.

The Winter Institute will bring together distinguished scholars and professionals to discuss the history of race in America, insights connecting indigenous issues to broad racial concerns and the struggles of the peoples of the Pacific. A general discussion open to all Institute attendees will examine the most promising means for promoting racial understanding in contemporary society.

This year‘s event entitled "Telling the Story: Blacks in America and the Pacific," will include, on January 11, a keynote address by Lonnie G. Bunch, Founding Director, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Bunch is a past-President of the Chicago Historical Society and has held numerous teaching positions at universities including The American University in Washington, D.C, The University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and George Washington University. He has also produced several historical documentaries for public television. The topic of his presentation will be "The Fire This Time: The Challenge of Interpreting African American Culture in American Museums."

In addition to Bunch, the Institute will also feature Dr. James O. Horton, Benjamin Banneker Professor of American Studies and History at George Washington University and Visiting Professor, Department of American Studies, UH Mānoa; poetry reading by Kathryn Waddell Takara, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, UH Mānoa; and musical entertainment by Star Williams & Company.

Three roundtable discussions on January 12 will include fifteen distinguished panelists such as Spencer Crew, Director, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center; Beverly A. Morgan-Welch, Executive Director, Museum of Afro-American History; Ralph Regenvanu, Director, Vanuatu Cultural Center; Daniel Martinez, Historian, National Park Service; Noelle Kahanu, Education Specialist, Bishop Museum and Organizer of the Native Hawaiian Arts Market of Maoli Arts Month; and, David W. Blight, Professor and Director of the Center for the Study of Slavery, Antislavery and Resistance, Yale University. A full list of panelists is available at www.uhfad.com.

Meal options for the conference are $50 for January 11 (includes dinner, entertainment and program) and $35 for January 12 (includes continental breakfast, lunch and conference materials). Admission to the conference only is free. The deadline for registering is January 3, 2007. More information on the Second Winter Institute on Black Studies, including a schedule of events and listing of featured guests, is available at www.uhfad.com or by calling (808) 956-8204.

ABOUT FAD
The Faculty of African Descent consists of faculty in tenure-track, lecturer, and administrative positions across the University of Hawaiʻi System. Faculty members are represented in the fields of Law, Political Science, Counselor Education, Philosophy, Ethnic Studies, Medicine, Teacher Education, and Tropical Plants & Soil Sciences on the Manoa campus. Other faculty members are represented on the University of Hawaiʻi Hilo and Kapi'olani campuses. The Faculty of African Descent came into existence in 2003 and already has had a positive impact on the University of Hawaiʻi administration, in the professional lives of its members, and on the diverse student population throughout the University of Hawaiʻi System.

For more information, visit: http://www.uhfad.com