Interracial intimacies and limitations in various settings such as the classroom, religious spaces, legal systems or domestic spheres, is a topic of the symposium to be hosted at the University this weekend.

Throughout the two-day event, presenters hope to answer an abundance of questions, such as: If people across races and cultures lived, ate, slept and traveled together, what would be the implications for cultural understanding? What was interracial intimacy and how might expressions of intimate contact have been guided by race, gender and class? 

WHO: The cost is free, and it is open to the public. The University will host several established scholars from academic institutions across the United States and France.


WHAT: The weekend will feature a performance on Friday night from Professor E. Patrick Johnson from Northwestern University, and two keynote addresses from Professor Michael Bibler from Louisiana State University and Rebecca Wanzo from Washington University in St. Louis. 

WHERE: Both days will be held at the Hotel Capstone. 



WHEN: The symposium is to take place all day Friday, April 21 and all day Saturday, April 22. 



WHY: The purpose of the two-day symposium is to explore interracial interactions and the forming of American culture during the antebellum period. 

Cassander Smith, associate professor of English and co-organizer of the event, believes people should attend the event because it is an important conversation about diversity. 

“In this current political climate, it is easy to retreat behind differences, whether those differences are based on race, gender and sexual orientation, political views, religion, or nationality,” Smith said. “This symposium is an occasion to discuss what happens when we connect across those lines of difference.”