Graduate Foundations in Black Geographies, Virtual Discussions

November 6, 2023

Graduate Foundations in Black Geographies is hosted by the Caribbean Studies Reading Group (Stanford University) with support from the Department of African & African American Studies, the Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages, and the Black Studies Collective, in collaboration with the UCSC Black Geographies Lab and Berkeley Black Geographies.

For the second half of the Graduate Foundations in Black Geographies virtual discussions for the fall quarter, CSRG is thrilled to welcome guest scholars from UC Berkeley (Dr. Jovan Scott Lewis) and UC Santa Cruz (Dr. Camilla Hawthorne) who will share their expertise as thought leaders in this dynamic interdisciplinary field. All are welcome - students, postdocs, faculty, staff, and other community members from Stanford and beyond!

Fall Meeting Dates

  • Meeting 4: Utopias and Reparations (11/17) feat. Professor Jovan Scott Lewis (UC Berkeley) 
  • Meeting 5: The Black Mediterranean (12/1) feat. Professor Camila Hawthorne (UCSC)
  • Meeting 6: New Directions in Black Geographies (12/15)

Reading Expectations

  • Meeting 4 (Nov 17 at 10am PST): Jovan Scott Lewis's Scammer's Yard (chapter 4 only) and Violent Utopia (chapter 5 only). Reading through the introductions and conclusions for both books is of course optional, but strongly encouraged. Please also read Lewis's journal article: “The Limits of Repair”. Small Axe (2022) 26 (1 (67)): 191–204. (March 2022).
  • Meeting 5 (Dec 1 at 10am PST) : Camilla Hawthorne's Contesting Race and Citizenship: Youth Politics in the Black Mediterranean (Introduction, Chapters 3-5) as well as The Black Mediterranean: Bodies, Borders, and Citizenship  (Introduction, Chapter 9 ("L'Italia Meticcia"), plus “Black Mediterranean geographies: Translation and the mattering of Black life in Italy,” Gender, Place & Culture 30, no. 3 (2023)484-507.
  • Meeting 6 (Dec 15 at 10am PST): to be determined. (select chapters TBD from The Black Geographic).

Readings can be downloaded from the Trello board for the discussion series. CSRG looks forward to virtually seeing you!