The Fall Symposium I features a roundtable discussion titled “Meditations on Masculinity and Sexuality in the Life and Art of James Baldwin.”

The roundtable conversation promises an insightful exploration into the intricate ways in which Baldwin’s writing and personal narrative challenge conventional notions of gender and sexuality, offering profound understanding into the human experience and to appreciate Baldwin's contributions to literature and social thought, and understand his lasting impact on discussions of identity and society.

PANELISTS

GerShun Alivez

GerShun Avilez is a cultural studies scholar who specializes in contemporary African American and Black Diasporic literatures and visual cultures. His teaching also covers 20th century US literature. Much of his scholarship explores how questions of gender and sexuality inform artistic production. In addition, he works in the fields of political radicalism, spatial theory, gender studies, and medical humanities. He serves as the Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the College of Arts and Humanities.

His first book, Radical Aesthetics & Modern Black Nationalism (Illinois), appeared in 2016 as a part of “The New Black Studies” Series. Radical Aesthetics won the 2017 William Sanders Scarborough Prize from the Modern Language Association (MLA). The prize is given to an outstanding scholarly study of African American literature or culture. His second book, Black Queer Freedom (Illinois), explores Black Diasporic queer artists and questions of social space. It was published in 2020 and is also a volume in “The New Black Studies” Series. Black Queer Freedom was a finalist for the 2021 P. Sterling Stuckey Book Prize (Association for the Study of Worldwide African Diaspora). He edited a special issue of the journal Women's Studies (2019) and recently co-edited the 10th edition of the Norton Anthology of American Literature, 1945-Present (2022).

He is currently working on two research projects, one which focuses on art and healthcare and another which explores Black queer history. He has written articles and book chapters on a range of historical and cultural subjects, including the Cold War, segregation narratives, early African American writing, race & terror, social death, queer life, experimental poetry, Black women’s writing, literary & cinematic satire, the Harlem Renaissance, Black Power Politics, and the Black Arts Movement.

Throughout his work and teaching, he is committed to studying a wide variety of art forms, including, drama, fiction, non-fiction, film, poetry, visual and performance art, ethnography, and comic books/graphic novels. He was the recipient of the Poorvu Award for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Teaching in 2011 (Yale University).

He created and coordinates the departmental Africana/Black Studies Colloquium, which hosts a number of events (lectures, roundtables, book launches, discussion groups, etc.) each year centered around African American and Black Diasporic research. He was an elected member of the MLA Delegate Assembly, and he served on the Program Committee for the annual convention of the American Studies Association (ASA).

He received his PhD in English from the University of Pennsylvania, where he also earned a Graduate Certificate in Africana Studies. He has held professorships at Yale University and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  He also held the Frederick Douglass Post-doctoral Fellowship at the University of Rochester.

Keith Clark

Keith Clark is Distinguished University Professor of English and African and African American Studies. He earned a B.A. from the College of William and Mary (1985) and a Ph.D. in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1993). He is the author of Black Manhood in James Baldwin, Ernest J. Gaines and August Wilson(Illinois UP, 2002), The Radical Fiction of Ann Petry (Louisiana State UP, 2013; winner of the College Language Association Creative Scholarship Award), and editor of Contemporary Black Men's Fiction and Drama (Illinois, 2001). His latest book, Navigating the Fiction of Ernest J. Gaines: A Roadmap for Readers, was published in Spring 2020 by Louisiana State.  His critical and pedagogical essays and book reviews have appeared in Callaloo, African American Review, The Oxford Companion to African American Literature, Resources for American Literary Study, American Writers V, Modern Drama, and GLQ.  His teaching interests include Black Literary masculinity studies, the Black bildungsroman, and African American LGBT studies. In addition to his academic interests, he is involved in several community service projects related to mentoring, tutoring, and hospice. 

Shane Stevenson

Shane Stevenson is an undergraduate student studying Civil Engineering with a deep interest in city planning and ecology. Although his academic focus is practical and industrious, his background is based in artistic expression. Currently recording an acoustic guitar EP, his down time is spent making music, drawing, reading, or playing games. Recently, Shane has enjoyed examining stories and dissecting them to understand their relevance to current social dynamics in America, and worldwide. Without a doubt, his highest achievement in college so far is being selected by his former Professor Mehta to speak on a panel to celebrate the impact of James Baldwin in the month of his 100th birthday.