Race, Aesthetics, Speculation Symposium

Description

"Race, Aesthetics, Speculation," a one-day symposium, brings together leading scholars to examine how the representation of race and ethnicity intersects with theories of aesthetics, literary form, and speculative thought. The event foregrounds aesthetic production by people of color and explores how form, genre, and speculation shape our understanding of politics, history, and the contemporary moment. By convening interdisciplinary conversations that challenge dominant narratives and highlight systematically excluded ways of knowing, the symposium aims to reassert the humanities' vital role in interpreting culture, imagining alternative worlds, and confronting the remainders of history.

Schedule:

• 9 a.m.–9:45 a.m. | Breakfast
• 10 a.m.–11 a.m. | Justin Mann, Northwestern University, "Getting Lost in the Dark: Speculations on the Aesthetics of Black Insecurity" (Moderator: Harris Feinsod, English, Johns Hopkins)
• 11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m. | Aimee Bhang, Pomona College, "Asian America's Gendered Adjacency to the Tech Broligarchy" (Moderator: Caroline Lillian Schopp, History of Art, Johns Hopkins)
• 12:30 p.m.–2 p.m. | Lunch, The Study (please RSVP to giladi@jhu.edu)
• 2:15 p.m.–3:15 p.m. | Yogita Goyal, English, UCLA, "Late Style and the Postcolonial Novel" (Moderator: Nadia Nurhussein, English, Johns Hopkins)
• 3:30 p.m.–4:30 p.m. | Glenda Carpio, Harvard University, "The Aesthetics of Migrant Solidarity" (Moderator: Daniel Desormeaux, Modern Languages and Literatures, Johns Hopkins)
• 4:45 p.m.–5:45 p.m. | Mary Pat Brady, Cornell University, "'You're Asking the Wrong Question, Kid': Balaclavas, Aliens, and Spectral Voices in Latinx Lit and Art" (Moderator: Maia Gil'Adí, Modern Languages and Literatures, Johns Hopkins)