events 2009American Studies Scholars Convened in Olomouc

Participants of the sympozium listen to James Deutsch's lecture. Photo Palacky University

December 9, 2009 — The international symposium “Black Odyssey Continued” (November 12-14), chaired by Professor Josef Jařab, the doyen of the American studies community, was devoted to the work and legacy of  Nathan Irvin Huggins (1927-1989), a distinguished American historian, author and educator. 

As a leading scholar in the field of African-American studies, he was the W. E. B. Du Bois Professor of History and of Afro-American Studies at Harvard University, as well as the director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research.  In their presentations and discussions, symposium participants paid tribute to this distinguished educator and covered a wide scope of themes from African American history and culture. 

Among U.S. speakers were Leon F. Litwack, distinguished professor of history at the University of California Berkeley and Pulitzer Prize winner (keynote speaker); James Deutsch, curator and writer from the Smithsonian Institution, and Randall Roorda, Fulbright professor from the University of Kentucky, Lexington. The U.S. Embassy is proud to have been a co-sponsor of this outstanding academic gathering. 

More at http://colloquium.upol.cz