African and African American Studies Hosts Fifth Lecture in 2013-14 Brown Bag Series

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Calvin White

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The African and African American studies program in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences will continue its Brown Bag Lecture Series at 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, in Old Main, Room 412. Calvin White Jr., associate professor of history and director of the program, will present “Oscar DePriest, One Among Many: A Black Congressmen Amongst Segregationists.” All members of the university community are welcome to attend.

White has served as an affiliated faculty member in African and African American studies since his appointment to the university in 2007. He previously served as the program’s associate director before assuming the directorship in 2011. His book, The Rise to Respectability: Race, Religion, and The Church of God In Christ, was published in 2012 by the University of Arkansas Press.

The Brown Bag Lecture Series brings together faculty and graduate students from a variety of disciplines including communications, English, history, political science, social work, sociology, and world languages and is coordinated by Benjamin Fagan, assistant professor of African and African American studies and English.

Previous lectures in this year’s series have included: "Shifting Frontiers of Freedom, Citizenship and Nationhood in Caribbean Post-Emancipation and the African Diaspora" by Caree Banton, assistant professor of African and African American studies and history, "Constructing Brotherhood: Racial and Gendered Emotion Culture as a Strategy to Navigate Predominantly White Settings" by Brandon Jackson, assistant professor of African and African American studies and sociology and criminal justice, “The Experiences of African American Women Survivors of Sexual Violence with Men in Their Lives” by Valandra, assistant professor of African and African American studies and Social Work, and “Which is your favorite color? Race, ethnicity, and linguistic expertise in Tanzanian beauty pageants” by Sabrina Billings, assistant professor Swahili and an affiliated faculty member in the African and African American studies program.

The African and African American studies program is an interdisciplinary program that expands on the core disciplines of a traditional liberal arts education. Through multiple fields of study, students explore the legacy of the African diaspora and African-descended people's global experiences and the importance of race with a focus on Africa, the United States and the Caribbean.