Honoring the legacy of Austin Clark—and co-organized by Darcy Ballantyne (Toronto Metropolitan University) and Ronald Cummings (McMaster University)— “Austin Clarke, Black Studies and Black Diasporic Memory” will take place on September 26-27, 2024, in Toronto, Canada. The conference includes a keynote address by Rinaldo Walcott (University at Buffalo) and closing remarks by David Chariandy (University of Toronto). [To register, go to Austinat90.]
Day 1: LiveLab, McMaster University Psychology Complex, 2nd Floor 1280 Main Street W. PC202A Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1
Day 2: Thomas Lounge, Toronto Metropolitan University First Floor, Oakham House 55 Gould Street Toronto, ON M5B 1E9
Description: Between 1968 and 1974, Austin Clarke was a visiting professor at a number of universities in the United States, including Yale, Duke and the University of Texas at Austin. During these years in the U.S., Clarke helped in setting up Black Studies programs at Yale and Harvard University. However, despite the significance of his presence in American academia of this time, the memory of Clarke’s work and his contributions in founding Black studies is largely forgotten today. This conference refers back to this time in order to think about the various transnational contexts of Austin Clarke’s work, as well as his foundational place in Black diasporic creative and intellectual life to ask and consider: What does it mean to remember this history and to engage with it at a time when we see the push towards institutionalizing Black studies in Canada?
For more information and to register for the conference, see https://austinat90.my.canva.site/
You may also contact the organizers at austinclarkeconference@gmail.com
Also see https://www.torontomu.ca/news-events/events/2024/09/austin-clarke–black-studies-and-black-diasporic-memory/