RevAmStudies in October 2012!

Dear Everyone:

A big thanks to Jack Halberstam and to all of you who came and made this year’s kick off events so fabulous!  It is only a few days into October and already so much has happened this year…

We were this week remembering the first RevAmStudies event just a few semesters ago, organized around Ruthie Gilmore and her book, Golden Gulag, as an occasion when the pink champagne was flowing and Neil Smith raised the first toast to welcome Ruthie to the Grad Center.  This isn’t meant to be maudlin sentimentality, but rather an acknowledgment that the kind of work we are collectively doing with this initiative, to think hard and generously together, is infused with the kind of energy and spirit so much associated with him — and with so many others of you, too!  It’s in that spirit of engaged openness that we invite you to the RevAmStudies events for October.

It is our privilege to host J. Kēhaulani Kauanui on Friday, 19 October.  An Associate Professor of American Studies and Anthropology at Wesleyan University, Kauanui earned her PhD in History of Consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 2000. Kauanui is the author of Hawaiian Blood: Colonialism and the Politics of Sovereignty and Indigeneity, published by Duke University Press, 2008. She is currently writing her second titled, Thy Kingdom Come? The Paradox of Hawaiian Sovereignty, which is a critical study on gender and sexual politics and the question of indigeneity in relation to state-centered Hawaiian nationalism. Kauanui is the sole producer and host of a public affairs radio program, “Indigenous Politics: From Native New England and Beyond,” which is syndicated through the Pacifica radio network. She is also a member of The Dream Committee, an anarchist radio collective that produces a radio program called Horizontal Power Hour. From 2005-2008, Kauanui was part of a six-person steering committee that worked to co-found the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA) for which she also served as an acting council member, then as an elected member of the inaugural council from 2009-2012.

From 12:30-2p, in Room 8106 (PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT OUR USUAL ROOM) Kauanui will engage us in our seminar discussion, around the following readings, which are available through the Center for the Humanities website (please remember to register for the seminar) — http://centerforthehumanities.org/seminars/revolutionizing-american-studies:

J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, “Colonialism in Equality: Hawaiian Sovereignty and the Question of US Civil Rights,” South Atlantic Quarterly/ SAQ 107:4. October: 635-650 (2008)

J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, “Hawaiian Nationhood, Self-Determination, and International Law,” Transforming the Tools of the Colonizer: Collaboration, Knowledge, and Language in Native Narratives, Ed. Florencia E. Mallon, Duke University Press, 2011

J. Kēhaulani Kauanui and Patrick Wolfe, “Settler Colonialism Then and Now: A conversation between J. Kēhaulani Kauanui and Patrick Wolfe,” special issue on settler colonialism for Politica & Società, guest editor: Michele Spanò, June 2012

At 4p, in room 9205 (AGAIN, PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT OUR USUAL ROOM), Professor Kauanui will offer a lecture titled “Hawaiian Indigeneity and the Contradictory Politics of Self-Determination.”

As always, our events are free and open to the public.  We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Office of GC President Bill Kelly; the Advanced Research Collaborative; and the Center for the Humanities.

We wanted also to let you know of two GC events that may be of interest:

on Friday, 5 October at 4p, Professor Roderick A. Ferguson (a RevAmStudies alum!) will be offering a lecture titled “Eros and Diaspora: Black Queer Formations and the History of Neoliberalism” in the GC English Program Lounge (Room 4406).

on Wednesday, 10 October at 4p, the newly forming AsianAmericanists@CUNY, in co-sponsorship with NYU’s Asian/Pacific/American Research Institute, is pleased to host Professor Vijay Prashad, who will be offering a lecture titled “The Karma of ‘Uncle Swami'” in Room 9206.

And, a very early heads up that spring 2013 will feature Matthew Jacobsen, Fred Moten, and Elizabeth Maddock Dillon among our activities!  Details to follow.

Looking forward to seeing many of you at these events.

Best,
Kandice & Duncan

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.