Inspired by the recent publication of numerous books on Black Aesthetics from a wide range of disciplines, many of which are provoked by the tragic deaths, incarceration, conditions of inequality, and forms of creative resistance affecting black people today, Monique Roelofs and Michael Kelly are organizing a two-day “Questioning Aesthetics Symposium on Black Aesthetics” at Hampshire College. With the title “Black Aesthetics” we do not assume any one conception of Black Aesthetics or even that there is such a thing, as we understand aesthetics to be critical thinking about art, culture, design, and nature, often in relation to social, political, and moral issues. Six panels with 16 speakers followed by a roundtable for all attendees are designed to explore new questions, models and directions in this vibrant field of inquiry.
The co-organizers would like to thank these generous co-sponsors:
Hampshire College
Humanities; Studio Arts; Dance; Film, Photo, and Video; Architecture, Art History, and Architectural Theory; Institute for Curatorial Practice; Ethics and the Common Good; President’s Office; Dean of Faculty Office; Dean of Students’ Office; Office of the Dean of Multicultural Education and Inclusion; Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies; Cognitive Science; Critical Social Inquiry; Interdisciplinary Arts
The Transdisciplinary Aesthetics Foundation
The American Society for Aesthetics
Five Colleges
Five College Lecture Fund; Five College Dance
Amherst College
English; Music; Philosophy
Mount Holyoke College
Philosophy
Smith College
Art; Africana Studies; English; Philosophy
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Afro-American Studies; English; History of Art and Architecture; Philosophy
Special thanks also to Jocelyn Edens, Cynthia Freeland, Linda Green, Norman S. Holland, Tripp Johnson, Karen Koehler, Mary Malo, Annabel Manning, Mike McKenna, Emily Pierce, Elizabeth V. Spelman, and Julie Van Camp.
For this symposium and its broader grounding in aesthetics, see also the Transdisciplinary Aesthetics Foundation