Day Two of Vortices and Tribute to Amiri Baraka

Below is the listing of our final conference day events--the tribute to Amiri Baraka begins at 7:00 pm--free and open to the public.

DAY TWO
Thursday, March 13, Smith Lecture Hall

9:45    Doors Open

10:00 Welcome and Opening Remarks 

Prof. Sean O’Connell and Prof. Jennifer Wager, Conference Co-chairs

Dr. Gale Gibson, President, Essex County College

Dr. Eileen De Freece, Acting Chair, Humanities Division

Dr. S. Aisha Steplight Johnson, Dean of Liberal Arts

10:15  Session I – Mixing Modernisms and Media Moderator: Jennifer Wager

“Constructing the Modern Nation State: Women as Bearers of Meaning in Raja Amari’s Satin Rouge (2002): A Filmic Case Study” Prof. Viral Bhatt, French

“Upcycling Modern and the Found Artist” Prof. Anna Choi-Muniz, Adjunct Faculty, Art

“Modernisms in 1960s Horror Cult Film” Prof. Victoria Timparano, Adjunct Faculty, Communications 

11:30  Session II – Newark Iterations Moderator: Dr. Margaret Stevens * - Prof. Gosser's presentation will be given at 3:50 pm

“Amiri Baraka: Art, Politics, Social Protest and the Modernist Tradition” Prof. Mikal Naeem Nash, History

“The Colonnades: A Modern Muse for a Newark Artist” Matthew Gosser, New Jersey Institute of Technology, College of Architecture and Design, Director, CoAD Gallery 

“Newark History: Mid-Century to Present” Dr. Margaret Stevens, Associate Professor History and Director, Urban Issues Institute

 
1:00    Session III – Race Films/Race on Film Co-moderators: Jennifer Wager and Kimberly Pena. Panel Discussion and Screening of Representative Film Clips

"On Oscar Micheaux" Sam Nash, New York University

"Unexpected Powerful Black Presences on Film" Prof. Nashid Al-Amin, Adjunct Faculty, English

"'Black Americans Have No Culture' But They Make Great Cultural Product: Discourse on Identity, Culture and Modernity through a Political Economic Lens" Prof. Kaia Shivers, Rutgers University

Lunch at 2:30 pm*

3:50    Session IV – "We Must Discuss, We Must Invent" Moderator: Jennifer Wager

"The Modernisms/Mid-Century Mixtape" A comparative look at media, pop culture, mid-century design, Modernism, and post-colonial discourse. Film clips, photographs, and discussion. Kaia Shivers, Jennifer Wager, Sean O'Connell
 
“The Colonnades: A Modern Muse for a Newark Artist” Matthew Gosser, New Jersey Institute of Technology, College of Architecture and Design, Director, CoAD Gallery 
 

Hors D’Oeuvres Reception 5:30 – 6:30 pm, 2nd Floor Art Gallery*

Closing Performance - 7:00 - 9:00 pm, Smith Lecture Hall

“The Poetics of Amiri Baraka: A Spoken Word Tribute”

Doors Open at 6:45 pm
  
M.C.

Sean Battle, Adjunct Faculty, English

Music 

The Omni Project Jazz Trio at Essex County College

          Edward Pucho Guzman (Drums), Emmanuel Mendez (Bass), Eric Lopes (Piano)

Singer

          Chaancé Barnes 

Poets*

Gerald "Lefty" Arthur
Sean Battle
Jessica “Souletic” Harris

Rob Hylton

Jaleesa McEachin
Blackberry Molassez

 Se’lah

Fa Timat Zahara Tanko

Joseph “Poetic Assassin” Thomas

Kelly Thomas

Shaheed K. Woods

Mia X

Tru Zioness

*listed in alphabetical order

*The Wednesday and Thursday luncheons for conference participants have been sponsored by the Community College Humanities Association (CCHA) and by the Student Life and Activities Office (SLAO), respectively. The Thursday evening hors d'oeuvres reception has been sponsored by the Urban Issues Institute (UII).