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Series Explores Digital Media, Black Lives Matter
VWC's year-long "Entangled Identities" series resumes Feb. 18 with digital culture discussion by Dr. Sarah Florini
By Stephanie Smaglo | February 19, 2016
In her forthcoming book, Blackness. There’s an App for That, Dr. Sarah Florini uses a historical lens to examine African Americans’ use of digital and social media to critique and contextualize contemporary sociopolitical events. She brought this topic to Virginia Wesleyan Feb. 18 as part of the College’s year-long series, “Entangled Identities: Legacies of 1619.”
In her presentation, “Remembering the Past, Understanding the Present: Digital Media and History in the Age of the Black Lives Matter Movement” (7-8:30 p.m., Boyd Dining Center/Shafer Room), Florini explored how digital and social media have been used to make sense of events such as the death of Trayvon Martin and the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.
Florini picked up where the “Entangled Identities” series left off in fall 2015, following presentations by scholars and leaders in fields as diverse as ethnomusicology, English, history, political science, and religious studies.
The Virginia Wesleyan series is part of a multi-year regional collaboration among Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University, Hampton University, and other partners to commemorate the 400th anniversary of 1619, which marked the arrival in Virginia of the first African slaves. Between October 2015 and April 2016, the College is exploring the impact of this occurrence and its significance in American history.
Additional spring 2016 presentations will include: "Fort Monroe: An American Lesson in Privilege" by Jasmine Burrell, VWC Class of 2017 (April 21); "Spirit Voices of an Emerging African-American Community in 18th Century America" by Dr. Cassandra L. Newby-Alexander, Professor of History and Director of the Joseph Jenkins Roberts Center for African Diaspora Studies at Norfolk State University (April 25); and "Race and Christianity in Early Virginia" by Dr. Rebecca Anne Goetz, Associate Professor of History at New York University (April 28).
In conjunction with the series, the Center for the Study of Religious Freedom will also host “Race and Values in America,” the spring 2016 installment of Readings With Wesleyan. Discussions will include: "What's in a Name? Race 'Riots,' 'Rebellions,' and 'Uprisings' in History and the Contemporary World" with Kathleen Casey, VWC Assistant Professor of History, and Dr. Richard Bond, VWC Associate Professor of History (April 7); "Hip-Hop and Jazz in African American and Native American Communities" with Murrell Brooks, VWC Assistant Professor of Political Science, Rebecca Hooker, VWC Associate Professor of English, and Jasmine Burrell '17 (April 14); and "'Let My People Go': The Figure of Moses in American Life" with Dr. Craig Wansink, Joan P. and Macon F. Brock Jr. Director of the Center for the Study of Religious Freedom (April 21).
“Entangled Identities: Legacies of 1619” was designed by an interdisciplinary working group of faculty in partnership with the College's two premier academic centers, the Center for Sacred Music and the Center for the Study of Religious Freedom. The series is funded in part by a grant from Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.
All events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.vwu.edu/1619.
Virginian-Pilot article: Forum draws parallels between civil rights era, current social media movements