The African and African American Studies Program invites the campus community to attend its 2019 Graduate Fellows Research Symposium from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, at the program's offices, Memorial Hall 230.

The symposium highlights the research completed by seven graduate fellows currently enrolled in the graduate certificate program. The graduate certificate, begun in 2014, supports graduate study of the legacy of the African diaspora and Africa-descended people's global experiences. The program offers several graduate fellowships to support their research in the fields of African and African American Studies.

Kim Needy, dean of the Graduate School and International Education, will offer introductory remarks, and Caree Banton, assistant professor of history as well as African and African American studies, will offer lunchtime remarks to accompany the seven student presentations. The full program is below.

The African and African American Studies Program at the University of Arkansas is an interdisciplinary program within the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences that expands on the core disciplines of a traditional liberal arts education. Program faculty and students explore the legacy of the African diaspora and African-descended people's global experiences with a focus on Africa, the United States, and the Caribbean. The program strives to advance social consciousness, inject principles of reason and equality into international debates, and support the highest level of academic excellence in the classroom and beyond. Through the study of the history and culture of the African diaspora, faculty examine the important role that race has played in the creation of the world in which our students live.

Symposium Program

8:30 a.m.:  Welcome, Greeting, and Opening Remarks

• Dr. Valandra, director of African and African American Studies
• Kim Needy, dean of the Graduate School and International Education

8:45-10 a.m.:  Panel 1:

• Moderator: Jim Gigantino and AAST-affiliated faculty
• Ryan Smith, "Historiography of Policing and Mass Incarceration in Postwar America"
• Tremaine Leslie, "The impact of mental Illness on Family Members of Incarcerated African American Males: A phenomenological study"
• Michele "Scout" Johnson, "Mothers of Intention:  Women in the Klan and Massive Resistance Movement:  1954-1968"
• Sarah Riva, ""No Blood Was Shed:" SNCC in Phillips County, Arkansas"

10:00-10:15:  Break

10:15-11:45:  Panel 2:

• Moderator:  Jim Gigantino, AAST-affiliated faculty
• Amanda McGee, "The Dividing Line: When Slavery, Space, and Race Converge on a Pennsylvania Borderland Plantation"
• Bethany Rosenbaum, "Promise and Practice: Lessons on Federal-Tribal Consultation of the Trail of Tears"
• Jama Grove, "Grounding the Land of the Sky:  Black Farmers in Early Twentieth Century Western North Carolina"

11:45-12:30:  Lunch with Remarks from Caree Banton, assistant professor of history and African and African American Studies