Wednesday, April 17t, 5:30 PM:
106 Stoeckel Hall

Daphne A. Brooks, “Rhapsody and Ruin: Porgy and Bess, Cultural Domination and the Story of America”

In this lecture, Daphne A. Brooks, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of African American Studies, American Studies, Women’s Gender & Sexuality Studies and Music, mines the archive in order to trace the legacy of racial performance and racial and gender violence made manifest in 1935’s Porgy and Bess. It moves from an exploration of the Heyward and Gershwin archives to a consideration of the genius Black women culture workers who’ve grappled with the opera’s legacy.

… Continue readingApril 17, 2024: Daphne A. Brooks on “Porgy and Bess”

Wednesday, April 10, 5:30pm
106 Stoeckel Hall

Brian Kane, “The Sound Archive and the Sonic Archive: Robert F. Williams in Cuba and Al Hibbler in Birmingham”

In this lecture/demonstration, Brian Kane, Associate Professor of Music and Affiliated Faculty, Film and Media Studies, will discuss some problems and challenges of historical sound studies by considering the a distinction between “the sound archive” and “the sonic archive.” The demonstration will focus on two sound recordings from the 1960s and the struggle for civil rights: a radio broadcast by the activist, Robert F. Williams, and a speech given by the singer Al Hibbler in support of the Birmingham campaign.

… Continue readingApril 10, 2024: Brian Kane on Sound Archives, Robert F. Williams, and Al Hibbler

Tuesday, March 5th at 4 PM (EST)
Online via Zoom: bit.ly/BSAWMarch5

Join us for a special author talk with Professor Maurice Wallace on King’s Vibrato: Modernism, Blackness and the Sonic Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Duke University Press, 2022) and Professor Alexander G. Weheliye on Feenin: R&B Music and the Materiality of BlackFem Voices and Technology (Duke University Press, 2023), moderated by Professors Daphne A. Brooks and Brian Kane.

… Continue readingMarch 5, 2024: A Conversation with Maurice Wallace and Alexander G. Weheliye