A triptych: the left photo is of two mangoes hanging from a tree. The middle is of two brown men. One is wearing an African mask, and the other kisses his throat. The image on the right is of three men, overlaid with a photo of grass.
Queering the Archive: Brown Bodies in Ecstasy: Visual Assemblages, and the Pleasures of Transgressive Erotics

Jordache A. Ellapen reflects on his photographic project, Queering the Archive: Brown Bodies in Ecstasy, which blends photographs from his family archive with contemporary portraits shot in a studio. The work examines the intersections of race, sexuality, and eroticism as they relate to the in/visibility of black and brown queer bodies and subjectivities in South Africa.

A painting of palm trees in shades of purple and yellow.
Life, Labor, and a Coolie Picturesque in Jamaica

Jenny Sharpe considers the visual power of the imperial picturesque. Analyzing touristic photography of Indian field workers in the Caribbean, Sharpe argues that a “coolie picturesque” simultaneously reveals and conceals the permanent settlement of Indians and their racial mixing with Afro-Jamaicans.

An Impressionistic painting of what looks to be an outdoor scene in shades of pink, orange, and purple.
Picturing South Asians in Victorian Jamaica

Analyzing the staging and composition of archival photography of South Asian laborers in 19th-century Jamaica, Anna Arabindan-Kesson reflects upon the role of photography in evoking particular colonial narratives about indenture, the perception of Indian laborers’ assimilability, and Jamaica’s modernization.

Margo Jefferson | What Is a Public Intellectual Today?

Margo Jefferson

The Public Humanities Initiative, and its flagship "What Is A Public Intellectual Today?" speaker series, invite you to a public interview with acclaimed author and professor Margo Jefferson.

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Levinthal Hall
Lecture / Reading
The Changing Human Experience
What Is a Public Intellectual Today?