Skip to main content
Link to news home page
News

W.E.B. Du Bois symposium set for April

March 14, 2003 By Barbara Wolff

The book that defined how scholars, activists, artists, policy makers and the public at large approach issues surrounding race in America will celebrate 100 years with an international symposium and a week of related events at UW–Madison.

The book, of course, is “The Souls of Black Folk.” The author is W.E.B. Du Bois. In 1888, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois became in 1895 the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard. He carried his lifelong study of the situation of black Americans around the world in essays, monographs, autobiography, biography, poetry and novels. A founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and editor of its publication, “The Crisis,” Du Bois renounced his American citizenship in the mid-1930s. In 1961 he moved to Ghana at the age of 90, where he died in 1963.

“Most people seem to know very little about Du Bois, even if they recognize the name,” says one of the conference organizers, Nellie McKay, UW–Madison professor of Afro-American studies and English. “This symposium will open a window into things they never saw before in the relations between whites and peoples of color.”

The symposium, Thursday-Saturday, April 10-12, will bring together more than 30 scholars from African studies, African-American studies, American Indian studies, art history, English, history, international studies, philosophy, political science sociology and women’s studies. The keynote speaker will be David Levering Lewis, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner for his double-volume biography of Du Bois. Other keynote speakers at the symposium are:

  • Cheryl Townsend Gilkes of Colby College, known for work in African-American religious history, the sociology of religion, race and ethnicity in the U.S. and public policy. Her new book, “‘If It Wasn’t for the Women…’: Black Women’s Experience and Womanist Culture in Church and Community” was published in 2001. At this conference she will speak about Du Bois’ contributions to the field of sociology.
  • Howard Winant of the University of California-Santa Barbara. Specializing in the role of race in the social sciences, Winant takes a Du Boisian approach to issues of social movements, development and stratification. His talk is titled, “Dialetics of the Veil.”
  • Literary scholar Deborah McDowell of the University of Virginia-Charlottesville. In her highly influential book, “The Changing Same: Black Women’s Literature, Criticism and Theory,” McDowell has increased understanding of how African-American women encountered and responded to issues identified by Du Bois. Her symposium address will examine Du Bois and the poetics of mourning.

Du Bois, no doubt, would approve of the lineup, since he was a recognized and much-lauded scholar, says co-symposium organizer Craig Werner, professor of Afro-American studies at UW–Madison. Du Bois tackled history in “Black Reconstruction in America” (1935) and “The Suppression of the Slave Trade” (1896), sociology in “The Philadelphia Negro” (1899) and biography in “John Brown” (1909). Werner says that “The Souls of Black Folk” incorporates elements of all those disciplines. Du Bois even made his mark on research methodology itself, Werner says. “In much of his work Du Bois used oral narrative to gather data, and pioneered its use as a legitimate tool of research,” he says.

Without doubt, “The Souls of Black Folk” has reached all segments of society throughout the century since its publication. Indeed, UW–Madison students in graduate school today are taking the book as much to heart as their predecessors. Two of them, David Gilbert and Michelle Gordon will lead a reading circle on the book Tuesday or Wednesday, April 1 and.

Running parallel to the symposium will be the UW–Madison Center for the Humanities second Humanities Biennial, a week of activities designed to deepen and enrich appreciation for Du Bois and his work across campus and around the region.

According to Steve Nadler, UW–Madison professor of philosophy and director of the Center for the Humanities, bringing a wider constituency into conversations about Du Bois is critical.

“Sadly, our concerns today are still Du Bois’ concerns: How to build a just, tolerant and equitable society, one in which race is simply no longer a factor,” he says. “We hope to use the biennial to bring together not just academics, but the broadest possible range of people — scholars, teachers, artists, students, and anyone with an interest in thinking and learning more about the complicated issue of race in America.”

Highlights from the biennial, running Monday-Sunday, April 7-13, include:

  • A keynote address by Michael Eric Dyson, Avalon Foundation Professor of the Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to being a professor, Dyson is an author (“Why I Love Black Women,” Holler If You Hear Me Searching for Tupac Shakur,” “Race Rules: Navigating the Color Line”), social critic, columnist and ordained Baptist minister.
  • Lectures by Mary Frances Berry, former head of the U.S. Commission of Civil Rights; and Du Bois biographer David Levering Lewis. Berry’s appearance is sponsored jointly by the Center for the Humanities and the Department of Afro-American Studies.
  • A major panel discussion on “The Past, Present and Future of Affirmative Action.” Speakers from a variety of fields including activism, history, law, philosophy and philosophy, will discuss the controversial policy.
  • A performance by the Fisk Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in Nashville. Founded in 1871, the Jubilee Singers are the oldest ongoing musical tradition in the country. Over the course of their extensive history they have performed for presidents, royalty and enthusiastic audiences around the world.
  • Within Our Gates: African-American Cinema from Silent to Sound, an African-American film series organized by UW–Madison’s student-led film society, Cinematique.
  • Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Chapter-a-Day” program will feature “The Souls of Black Folk” throughout the week, starting April 7. Check local listings for times and stations.

All symposium events are free, open to the public and will be held at the Pyle Center, 722 Langdon St. For more information about the symposium, visit its Web site, http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/aas/dubois.htm, or contact symposium manager David La Croix, (608) 263-0865/ddlacroix@wisc.edu.

Most Humanities Biennial events also are free and public; however, they will be held in a variety of venues on- and off campus. For more information about the week of events, visit the Center for the Humanities’ Web site, www.humanities.wisc.edu, or get in touch with Grant Samuelsen, (608) 263-3409/info@humanities.wisc.edu.