Pryor Center's Spring Lecture Series Concludes With Presentation by Airic Hughes

Photo Submitted

Airic Hughes

The Pryor Center Presents spring lecture series presented by the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences concludes at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 14, with "The Language of State Will: Research Conclusions from 'Through the Heart of the City: Interstates and Black Geographies in Urban America'" featuring Airic Hughes, Ph.D. candidate in history at the U of A. The lecture series is part of the Pryor Center's expanded mission of education, research and outreach.

Federal urban renewal and interstate highway projects re-segregated American cities. U.S. Interstate 630 was constructed in Little Rock using the racialized language and tactics of urban renewal, promoting white supremacy as progressive social policy. This research illuminates how and why federal interstates are dynamic instruments of state will to form and inform black geographies in urban spaces.

Hughes is a 2021 Southern Regional Education Board Doctoral Scholar and instructs courses for the U of A Department of History, African and African American Studies Program, and the School of Journalism and Strategic Media.    

This event will be held in person and via Zoom. If you wish to attend virtually, please register in advance with an e-mail address that is associated with a Zoom account. Registration is not required for in-person attendance.

The Pryor Center is located at 1 E. Center St., Suite 120. The event is free and open to the public, and parking is available on the Fayetteville Square. 

Upcoming Events:

Tuesday,  April 12, 2022, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Elaine Now
Photographer Trent Bozeman will discuss his work in Elaine, Arkansas. He will be joined by James White, director of the Elaine Legacy Center. 

Monday, May 23, 2022, 10 a.m.
OLLI Class: WWII Arkansas Relocation Centers; OLLI Registration. 

About The David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History: The David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History is an oral history program with the mission to document the history of Arkansas through the collection of spoken memories and visual records, preserve the collection in perpetuity, and connect Arkansans and the world to the collection through the Internet, TV broadcasts, educational programs, and other means. The Pryor Center records audio and video interviews about Arkansas history and culture, collects other organizations' recordings, organizes these recordings into an archive, and provides public access to the archive, primarily through the website at pryorcenter.uark.edu. The Pryor Center is the state's only oral and visual history program with a statewide, seventy-five county mission to collect, preserve, and share audio and moving image recordings of Arkansas history.

About the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences: The Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences is the largest and most academically diverse unit on campus with three schools, 16 departments and 43 academic programs and research centers. The college provides the majority of the core curriculum for all University of Arkansas students.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the top 3% of U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.