Spring 2021 Virtual Events

Posted on January 20, 2021 by Katie Fanfani Posted in News, Wilson News

January 20, 2021

Update: New events have been added for May and June

“All The Songs We Sing”: Author Readings with the Carolina African American Writers’ Collective

February 9, at 7 p.m.

Join us to hear Carolina graduates and members of the Carolina African American Writers’ Collective talk about the Collective and read excerpts from their works in “All the Songs We Sing,” the new anthology that marks the group’s 25th anniversary. A Q&A will follow the readings.

Bullitt History of Medicine Club presents–
The Doctors and the Black Death: Reconsidering Expertise in an Age of Pandemic, with Dr. Brett Whalen, Associate Professor of History, UNC-Chapel Hill

February 23, at 5 p.m.

In the popular imagination, backwards and ignorant “medieval people” possessed no means of understanding or trying to combat the Black Death, the fourteenth-century outbreak of bubonic plague that ravaged Europe among other parts of the world. In fact, while medieval doctors lacked modern medical technologies and knowledge of disease pathology, they showed remarkable creativity in their attempts to explain, diagnose, and blunt the impact of the Black Death. Brett Whalen will discuss the value of such expertise in an age of pandemic—in the Middle Ages, but also in the contemporary moment.

Whalen received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 2005 and teaches medieval religious, intellectual, and cultural history in the history department at Carolina. He is the author of several books, including “The Two Powers: The Papacy, the Empire, and the Struggle for Sovereignty in the Thirteenth Century” (2019).

Exploring the Nuance of Community-Driven Archives: A Conversation with Archives Practitioners Jimmy Zavala and Nancy Godoy, Facilitated by Chaitra Powell

February 24, at 1 p.m.

What happens when large research university libraries engage in community outreach around archives and community memory? At this event, we will learn about the community-driven archives projects our guests have led. What should other university libraries know before embarking on these types of projects? What should communities be aware of when they are approached to participate in these types of partnerships? Is it possible to generate and sustain more dynamic relationships and collections with this approach? Join us for what is sure to be a lively and sincere look at the outcomes of these groundbreaking projects.

Off the Shelf: Author Talk with Regina Bradley

February 25, at 12 p.m.

“Chronicling Stankonia: The Rise of the Hip-Hop South” is a vibrant book that pulses with the beats of a new American South, probing the ways music, literature and film have remixed Southern identities for a post–civil rights generation. This work, author Regina N. Bradley argues, helps define new cultural possibilities for Black Southerners who came of age in the 1980s and 1990s and have used hip-hop culture to buffer themselves from the historical narratives and expectations of the civil rights era.

“Chronicling Stankonia” reflects the ways that culture, race and Southernness intersect in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Although part of Southern hip-hop culture remains attached to the past, Bradley demonstrates how younger Southerners use the music to embrace the possibility of multiple Souths, multiple narratives and multiple points of entry to contemporary Southern Black identity.

Bradley is an alumna Nasir Jones Hip Hop Fellow at Harvard University and an assistant professor of English and African diaspora studies at Kennesaw State University.

NEW: Roving Revolutionaries: Armenians and the Connected Revolutions in the Russian, Iranian, and Ottoman Worlds

March 18, at 5 p.m.

Join us for a talk by Houri Berberian, author of “Roving Revolutionaries: Armenians and the Connected Revolutions in the Russian, Iranian, and Ottoman Worlds.” The lecture is part of the Horner Jarrahi Persian Studies Speaker Series, established by Carolina alumni Vance L. Horner II ’92 and Shaida Jarrahi Horner ’93, MAC ’94.

“Roving Revolutionaries” probes the interconnected aspects of the Russian, Iranian, and Young Turk revolutions of the early 20th century through the involvement of the Armenian revolutionaries—minorities in all of these empires. Their movements and participation within and across frontiers tell us a great deal about the global transformations that were taking shape at that time.

Berberian is professor of history, Meghrouni Family Presidential Chair in Armenian Studies, director of the Center for Armenian Studies, and director of graduate studies at the University of California, Irvine.

Off the Shelf Author Conversation between Cathleen Cahill and Alison Parker

March 25, at 12 p.m.

Cathleen D. Cahill is author of “Recasting the Vote: How Women of Color Transformed the Suffrage Movement.” We think we know the story of women’s suffrage in the United States: women met at Seneca Falls, marched in Washington, D.C., and demanded the vote until they won it with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. But the fight for women’s voting rights extended far beyond these familiar scenes. In “Recasting the Vote,” Cahill tells the powerful stories of a multiracial group of activists who propelled the national suffrage movement toward a more inclusive vision of equal rights. As we celebrate the centennial of a great triumph for the women’s movement, Cahill’s powerful history reminds us of the work that remains.

Alison M. Parker is author of “Unceasing Militant: The Life of Mary Church Terrell.” Born into slavery during the Civil War, Mary Church Terrell (1863–1954) would become one of the most prominent activists of her time, with a career bridging the late 19th century to the civil rights movement of the 1950s. Though most accounts of Terrell focus almost exclusively on her public activism, Parker also looks at the often turbulent, unexplored moments in her life to provide a more complete account of a woman dedicated to changing the culture and institutions that perpetuated inequality throughout the United States. Drawing on newly discovered letters and diaries, Parker weaves together the joys and struggles of Terrell’s personal, private life with the challenges and achievements of her public, political career, producing a stunning portrait of an often under-recognized political leader.

Bullitt History of Medicine Club presents–
Student Lightning Talks

NEW DATE: April 13, 12 p.m. (Event was originally scheduled for March 30)

Sample the work of current UNC School of Medicine students as they present their research in a lightning talk. Each presentation will be about five minutes, challenging participants to distill their work down to its essence. The talks will be followed by a Q & A at the end.

NEW: Well Read: Brooke Baldwin ’01 Discusses Her New Book, “Huddle: How Women Unlock Their Collective Power”

April 21, at 5:30 p.m.

Join us for a discussion with 2001 Carolina graduate, veteran journalist and CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin about her new book, “Huddle: How Women Unlock Their Collective Power.”

At this virtual event, Baldwin will be joined in conversation by Suchi Mohanty, head of the R.B. House Undergraduate Library. Baldwin will also answer audience questions.

Baldwin calls a group of women working for the benefit of all a “huddle,” and that goes beyond networking happy hours and text chains among friends—though there is some of that, too. This is a new way women are working together to advocate for themselves, for other women in the world and for positive change in the way women are perceived and represented in the culture at large.

“Huddle,” which is Baldwin’s first book, is a blend of journalism and personal narrative. It’s a fascinating look at how women are not only adding seats at the table to make change but are building a whole new table at which all can play a role.

Off the Shelf Author Talk with Rachel Williams

April 22, at 12 p.m.

In the heat of June in 1943, a wave of destructive and deadly civil unrest took place in the streets of Detroit. The city was under the pressures of both wartime industrial production and the nascent civil rights movement, setting the stage for massive turmoil and racial violence.

With “Run Home If You Don’t Want to Be Killed,” Rachel Marie-Crane Williams delivers a graphic retelling of the racism and tension leading up to the violence of those summer days. By incorporating firsthand accounts collected by the NAACP and telling them through a combination of hand-drawn images, historical dialogue and narration, Williams makes the history and impact of these events immediate, and in showing us what happened, she reminds us that many issues of the time—police brutality, state-sponsored oppression, economic disparity, white supremacy —plague our country to this day.

Williams is associate professor of art and art history, and gender, women’s and sexuality studies, at the University of Iowa.

NEW: Well Read: Patricia Parker Discusses Her Book “Ella Baker’s Catalytic Leadership: A Primer on Community Engagement and Communication for Social Justice”

May 26, at 5:30 p.m.

Join us for a discussion with Carolina faculty member Patricia Parker about her book “Ella Baker’s Catalytic Leadership: A Primer on Community Engagement and Communication for Social Justice.”

At this virtual event, Parker will be joined in conversation by Monica Figueroa, interim librarian for inclusive excellence at the University Libraries. Parker will also answer audience questions.

Ella Baker (1903–1986) was an influential African American civil rights and human rights activist. For five decades, she worked behind the scenes with people in vulnerable communities to catalyze social justice leadership.

Parker’s book describes a case study that looks at Baker’s community engagement through the lens of catalytic leadership–a concrete set of communication practices for social justice leadership produced in equitable partnership with, instead of on, communities. The case centers the voices of African American teenage girls.

Patricia Parker, Ph.D, is chair of the communication department, professor of critical organizational communication studies and director of the Graduate Certificate in Participatory Research at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Off the Shelf: Author Talk with Finis Dunaway

May 27, at 12 p.m.

Tucked away in the northeastern corner of Alaska is one of the most contested landscapes in all of North America: the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Considered sacred by Indigenous peoples in Alaska and Canada and treasured by environmentalists, the refuge provides life-sustaining habitat for caribou, polar bears, migratory birds and other species. For decades, though, the fossil fuel industry and powerful politicians have sought to turn this unique ecosystem into an oil field.

“Defending the Arctic Refuge” tells the improbable story of how the people fought back. In a time of escalating climate change, species extinction and threats to Indigenous lands and cultures, this book demonstrates the power of collective action to defend human rights and ecosystems and the ability of diverse alliances to take on multinational corporations and change the world.

Dunaway is professor of history at Trent University.

NEW: Well Read: Kristy Woodson Harvey ’07 Discusses Her New Novel, “Under the Southern Sky”

June 2, at 5:30 p.m.

Join us for a discussion with 2007 Carolina graduate and Friends of the Library Board of Directors member Kristy Woodson Harvey about her new novel, “Under the Southern Sky.”

At this virtual event, Woodson Harvey will be joined in conversation by 2008 Carolina graduate Maghon Taylor, children’s book author and owner of All She Wrote Notes. Woodson Harvey will also answer audience questions.

“Under the Southern Sky” is a timely, moving novel, about two childhood friends who discover that love—and family—can be found in unconventional ways. From “the next major voice in Southern fiction” (Elin Hilderbrand, #1 New York Times bestselling author), “Under the Southern Sky” is a fresh and unforgettable exploration of love, friendship and the unbreakable ties that bind.

Kristy Woodson Harvey is the New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of seven novels including “Under the Southern Sky,” “Feels Like Falling” and the Peachtree Bluff Series.

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