Symposium with Keynote Address by Aldon D. Morris

Co-sponsored with the Department of African and African American Studies, the Department of Sociology, the Division of Social Science, the Office of the President, the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, the Politics and Social Change Workshop, and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs

The symposium will begin with an evening reception on Thursday, October 25. Harvard faculty members, including Professors Lawrence Bobo and Henry Louis Gates Jr., will deliver toasts to honor Du Bois, a founder of American sociology and the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University. On Friday, October 26, and Saturday, October 27, the department will host a series of panels that explore Du Bois's legacy on topics ranging from the sociological canon to racial capitalism. Professor Orlando Patterson will open the conference with a reflection on the life and scholarship of Du Bois. We are honored to welcome Professor Aldon Morris, Leon Forrest Professor of Sociology and African American Studies at Northwestern University and author of The Scholar Denied: W.E.B. Du Bois and the Birth of Modern Sociology, who will deliver the keynote address of the symposium and engage in a Q&A session with Professor Jason Beckfield.

 

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25
OPENING RECEPTION
The Sinclair, 52 Church Street, Cambridge MA
7:00–9:00 p.m.

 

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

Lawrence D. Bobo (Harvard)

 

TOASTS

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (Harvard), John Silvanus Wilson (Harvard), and Tommie Shelby (Harvard)

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26
Sheraton Commander Hotel, 16 Garden Street, Cambridge MA
8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
 

CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST AND REGISTRATION, 7:45-8:30 A.M.

 

OPENING REMARKS, 8:30-9:00 A.M.

Orlando Patterson (Harvard)

 

PANEL 1:  DU BOIS'S GLOBAL HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGY, 9:00-10:20 A.M.

Overview of Du Bois’s intellectual trajectory as a global-historical comparative thinker.

Panelists:  Stephanie Shaw (Ohio State), Chad Williams (Brandeis), and Howard Winant (UCSB)

Chair: Ellis Monk (Harvard)

 

PANEL 2:  RACE, EPISTEMOLOGY & CANON BUILDING, 10:30-11:50 A.M.

How has the canon been built and how should it change? Should it exist at all? What voices have been excluded?

Panelists:  Ben Carrington (USC), Julian Go (Boston University), and Zine Magubane (Boston College)

Chair: Mario Small (Harvard)

 

LUNCH (PROVIDED), 12:00-1:00 P.M.

 

PANEL 3:  DU BOISIAN THEORY AND METHOD, 1:00-2:20 P.M.

What is Du Boisian Sociology? What is its theoretical foundation? How is it done?

Panelists:  Cheryl Townsend Gilkes (Colby), Marcus Hunter (UCLA), and José Itzigsohn (Brown)

Chair: William Julius Wilson (Harvard)

 

PANEL 4: DU BOIS AND RACIAL CAPITALISM, 2:30-3:50 P.M.

How can Du Bois help diagnose and remedy the ills of racial capitalism?

Panelists: Rose Brewer (Minnesota), Cedric de León (U Mass), and Walter Johnson (Harvard)

Chair: Alexandra Killewald (Harvard)

 

 

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26
University Lutheran Church, 66 Winthrop Street, Cambridge MA
4:30–6:30 p.m.
 

KEYNOTE INTRODUCTION

Jason Beckfield (Harvard)

 

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Aldon Morris (Northwestern)

 

ENTERTAINMENT

Du Bois Orchestra

 

 

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27
Sheraton Commander Hotel, 16 Garden Street, Cambridge MA
8:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
 

CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST AND REGISTRATION, 8:00-8:30 A.M.

 

GUIDING REMARKS, 8:45-9:00 A.M.

 

PANEL 5: DU BOIS AND PRAGMATISM, 9:00-10:20 A.M.

Was Du Bois a pragmatist? What would a Du Boisian Pragmatism look like?

Panelists:  Denise James (Dayton), Paul C. Taylor (Penn State) and Robert W. Williams (Bennett)

Chair: Christopher Winship (Harvard)

 

PANEL 6: TOWARD A SOCIOLOGY OF RACISM, 10:30-11:50 A.M.

What insights can be gained from a 'sociology of racism' (versus a 'sociology of race')?

Panelists: Karen Fields (Sociologist), Crystal Fleming (Stony Brook), and Abigail Sewell (Emory)

Chair: Evelynn Hammonds (Harvard)

 

LUNCH (PROVIDED), 12:00-1:00 P.M.

 

PANEL 7: SCHOLARSHIP FOR SOCIAL CHANGE, 1:00-2:20 P.M.

How can Du Bois inspire us to create scholarship for social good?

Panelists: Saida Grundy (Boston University), Toussaint Losier (UMass), and Adia Wingfield (Washington U.)

Chair: Elizabeth Hinton (Harvard)

 

CLOSING REMARKS, 2:30-3:00 P.M.

You can reach the planning committee by email at dubois150harvard@gmail.com.