Reading, Lecture & Discussion | Diversity and anti-racism in literary studies
Organisation: Aiden John (EXC 2020, Research Area 1: “Competing Communities”) and Jasmin Veeh (EXC 2020, Research Area 4: “Literary Currencies”). An event of the Cluster of Excellence EXC 2020 Temporal Communities: Doing Literature in a Global Perspective.
deutsch | english
How diverse are German-speaking literature departments and what opportunities do they offer to study topics related to anti-racism, diversity and intersectionality? On the one hand, this event by and for students focuses on researchers and authors who have dealt with issues of diversity and anti-racism in an enriching way. On the other, it aims to provide insights and inspiration to students for their own research and serves as a platform for voicing their experiences.
In the first part, the activist and author Sharon Dodua Otoo, winner of the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize, will read from her 2012 novella the things i am thinking while smiling politely …, and Dr. Fernando dos Santos Baldraia Sousa, diversity officer at the publishing house Companhia das Letras (Brazil) and a former student and PhD candidate at Freie Universität, will give a lecture on canonisation processes.
With reference to these examples of anti-racist efforts, the second part of the event will provide a forum for a discussion between the contributors and the participants of the event.
Questions of how to deal with (open or implicit) canons, diversity in teaching and research as well as anti-racist literary and scholarly practice can be examined and discussed here from a student perspective. Last but not least, this forum opens up a space for reflections on and exchanges of personal experiences.
Non-student participants are of course also very welcome!
Schedule:
6:15 p.m.: Introduction
6:30 p.m.: Reading by Sharon Dodua Otoo: die dinge, die ich denke, während ich höflich lächle … (the things i am thinking while smiling politely …, in German and English) + time for questions and a discussion
7:15 p.m.: Lecture by Dr Fernando Baldraia: The Synchronisierung of the canon: arranging time, theory and subject (in English) + time for questions and a discussion
8:00 p.m.: Short break
8:20 p.m.: Open panel discussion: Survey and perspectives of anti-racist literary and scholarly work in the course of studies (in German and English)
Time & Location
Dec 14, 2020 | 06:00 PM c.t.
Contact and registration by December 11, 2020 at: jasmin.veeh@fu-berlin.de
The event will take place via Cisco Webex Meetings. You will receive the access information on December 12. The event will largely be held in German, but English can be used if necessary.