The Institute for Policy Studies is launching its first year-long Public Scholar Series. The PSS panels and workshops are unique because they have been selected by interns, our public scholars-in-training, and reach beyond established IPS issue areas in an effort to reflect the greatest swatch of experiences from younger people and others of diverse backgrounds.

This discussion will explore the history of black feminist expression and ideological development in the United States. It will also give light to the black female experience, their social and political responses to the range of issues that most impact their communities. Special emphasis will be given to the issue of mass incarceration.

Dr. Michele Simms-Burton is a Ph.D. in American literature from George Washington University. She was a founding board member and secretary-treasurer of the Toni Morrison Society, and is a current member of the American Studies Association and the Modern Language Association, where she chaired the Committee on Literatures and Languages of People of Color in the U.S. in Washington, D.C. Dr. Simms-Burton has lectured throughout North America, Europe, and Africa on topics in American literature, African American literature, women and gender studies, film studies, and cultural studies.

Dr. Erin Chapman is a historian of U.S. race politics, African American cultural expression, U.S. gender politics, and racialized popular culture. She is also an assistant professor of history at George Washington University. Her first book Prove It On Me: New Negroes, Sex, and Popular Culture in the 1920s, is a history of the cultural investment in African American women’s images and bodies that pervaded U.S. society in the midst of transformations in race politics, sexual mores, and popular culture that defined the New Negro era of the early twentieth century.

Moderator: Emira Woods, Co-Director of IPS’ Foreign Policy In Focus project.

These discussions are free and open to the public but a suggested $5 donation will be appreciated. Please let us know you’re coming by sending an RSVP to adwoa@ips-dc.org.

Other panels and workshops in the series:

• March 21: Seed As Her Sword: Global South to the Black Belt South
• March 28: Reproductive Rights and Imperialism
• September 12: They’re Bankrupting Us and 20 Other Myths About Unions

Revisit the IPS events page for more PSS events!