‘Moral Economies’ focus of 12th annual Africana studies symposium

The Africana Studies Department in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences will host its 12th annual symposium on Wednesday and Thursday, April 2-3.

This year’s symposium will focus on the topic of “Moral Economies.” According to Akin Ogundiran, chair of Africana studies, the goal of the two-day event is to diagnose and evaluate the rise in and ramifications of social inequality at the local and international levels despite increases in global wealth.

Twenty-three participants from the United States, Canada, South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Jamaica and the Bahamas will explore moral economy as a theory at the intersection of social justice, sustainable economy and restoration of confidence in the social common. UNC Charlotte faculty members who will participate or lead sessions include Oladimeji Aborisade, Felix Germain, Oscar de la Torre and Dorothy Smith-Ruiz from African studies; Peta Katz, anthropology; Gregory Mixon, history; Eddy Souffrant, philosophy; and Joseph Winters, religious studies.

Gene Nichol, the Boyd Tinsley Distinguished Professor of Law and director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at UNC Chapel Hill, will deliver the symposium’s keynote address at 5 p.m., April 3. Nichol, who teaches courses in constitutional law and federal courts, wrote “Seeing the Invisible,” a year-long series on North Carolina poverty published in the News & Observer throughout 2013. Nichol attended Oklahoma State University, where he received a degree in philosophy (1973) and played varsity football. He obtained a J.D. from the University of Texas in 1976.

Roundtable discussions about organizing academics and students for North Carolina’s future and a screening of “The Line,” a film about the challenges working poor face across the United States, also will be part of the symposium. A discussion with the award-winning film producer Linda Midgett will follow the film’s showing, scheduled for 3:15 p.m., April 2.

The 2014 Department of Africana Studies Symposium is cosponsored by the Belk College of Business, Office of International Programs, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Center for Applied and Professional Ethics and the Council for the Advancement of Yoruba Studies. Additional support is through a Chancellor’s Diversity Challenge Fund grant.

Symposium events, which are free and open to the public, will be in EPIC, Room G256. Registration is requested via email to Oweeta Shands (africana_studies@uncc.edu) or call 704-687-5161. A complete program is available online.