“State of the Field Address: New Directions in African American Studies” | Center for African American Studies USC Upstate

In celebration of Black History Month CAAS is pleased to announce the CAAS “State of the Field Address: New Directions in African American Studies” lecture (virtual, COVID edition!)  Featuring Dr. Frank Wilderson III, Chair and Professor of African American Studies at UC Irvine.  Dr. Wilderson will discuss his recent work, Afropessimism (Liveright/W.W. Norton 2020), an engaging work of creative non-fiction that offers a new and compelling interpretation of black racial identity through the lens of critical race theory, and the larger implications his ideas have on the field of African American Studies.

Dr. Wilderson’s virtual talk is scheduled for Monday, February 22nd at 3pm EST.

Please RSVP by 2/18/21 using the following link:
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=Ynu6jIaexkabGwZQSmHHLRtzcJHmlfVBotNO2ed2_9xUNUlWQzZVMDM2NVA3QzJMRFo1QkxQMllTNC4u

Frank B. Wilderson, III is professor and chair of African American Studies, and a core faculty member of the Culture & Theory Ph.D. Program at UC Irvine; and an award-winning writer whose books include Afropessimism (Liveright/W.W. Norton 2020); Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid (Duke University Press 2015); and Red, White, & Black: Cinema and the Structure of U.S. Antagonisms (Duke University Press 2010). He spent five and a half years in South Africa, where he was one of two Americans to hold elected office in the African National Congress during the apartheid era. He also was a cadre in the underground. His literary awards include The American Book Award; The Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Award for Creative Nonfiction; The Maya Angelou Award for Best Fiction Portraying the Black Experience in America; and a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship.