Semple Brownbag Series
The Jesse B. Semple Brownbag is an informal forum for the African Americanist community and those who are interested in the general study of race, culture, and American society. It offers opportunities for visiting scholars, KU faculty, and KU students to present their ongoing research. The forum discusses activities on campus, historical and current issues related to race, and culture and social relations in America.
Brownbag Descriptions and Schedule
Fall 2015
December 2015
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Amiri Baraka and the Congress of African People: History and Memory"
Michael Simanga, Georgia State University
December 7, 2015 @ 11:30 am
Langston Hughes Center, Bailey Hall rm. 1 (Free and Open to the Public)
October 2015
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Haitian Hollywood: Recreating Home in Exile,"
Cécile Accilien, University of Kansas
October 19, 2015 @ 11:30 am
Langston Hughes Center, Bailey Hall rm. 1 (Free and Open to the Public)
September 2015
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Concrete Demands: The Search for Black Power in the 20th Century,"
Rhonda Y. Williams, Case Western Reserve University
September 14, 2015 @ 11:30 am
Langston Hughes Center, Bailey Hall rm. 1 (Free and Open to the Public)
Spring 2015
April 2015
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"How Social Movements Die: Repression and Demobilization of the Republic of New Africa,"
Christian Davenport, University of Michigan
April 13, 2015 @ 11:30 am
Langston Hughes Center, Bailey Hall rm. 1 (Free and Open to the Public)
March 2015
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Living in Infamy: Felony Disfranchisement and the History of American Citizenship,"
Pippa Holloway, Middle Tennessee State University
March 9, 2015 @ 11:30 am
Langston Hughes Center, Bailey Hall rm. 1 (Free and Open to the Public)
February 2015
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Those Left Behind: Bridging Ferguson and Reproductive Justice,"
Olubukola Gbadegesin, Saint Louis University
February 9, 2015 @ 11:30 am
Langston Hughes Center, Bailey Hall rm. 1 (Free and Open to the Public)
Fall 2014
November 2014
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Rehabilitation and Frustration: Richard Pryor and his Struggles with Hollywood Superstardom in the 1980s,"
Ray Pence, University of Kansas
November 10, 2014 @ 11:30 am
Langston Hughes Center, Bailey Hall rm. 1 (Free and Open to the Public)
October 2014
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Push, Precious, and the Trauma of Literary Adaption,"
Ayesha Hardison, Ohio University (LHVP Fall 2014)
October 6, 2014 @ 11:30 am
Langston Hughes Center, Bailey Hall rm. 1 (Free and Open to the Public)
September 2014
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Justice Postponed is Justice Denied: Lucile Bluford and the Campaign for Educational Equality in Missouri,"
James Baker, University of Kansas
September 8, 2014 @ 11:30 am
Langston Hughes Center, Bailey Hall rm. 1 (Free and Open to the Public)
Spring 2014
April 2014
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Suppression of Oppression: Impact of (Retouched) Racial Segregation Photographs on Group Attitudes and Policy,"
Ludwin Molina, University of Kansas
April 14, 2014 @ 11:30 am
Langston Hughes Center, Bailey Hall rm. 1 (Free and Open to the Public)
March 2014
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Strange Land of Shadows: Walmart and the Black Belt Growth Machine,"
Joan Weston, Ohio University
March 10, 2014 @ 11:30 am
Langston Hughes Center, Bailey Hall rm. 1 (Free and Open to the Public)
February 2014
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Lest We Forget: An ethnographic journey through Angola State Penitentiary,"
Daniel Evan Atkinson, University of Kansas
February 10 , 2013 @ 11:30 am
Langston Hughes Center, Bailey Hall rm. 1 (Free and Open to the Public)
Fall 2013
December 2013
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"My Dear Boy: Carrie Hughes' Letters to Langston Hughes,"
Carmeletta M. Williams, Johnson Community College and Edgar Tidwell, University of Kansas
December 9 , 2013 @ 11:30 am
Langston Hughes Center, Bailey Hall rm. 1 (Free and Open to the Public)
November 2013
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"The Heartland as Home: Blending Place, Race, and Personal History in Dramatic Writing,"
Darren Canady, University of Kansas
November 11 , 2013 @ 11:30 am
Langston Hughes Center, Bailey Hall rm. 1 (Free and Open to the Public)
October 2013
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"An End of Innocence: African-American High School Protest in the 1960s and 1970s,"
Shirley Hill and John Rury, University of Kansas
October 7 , 2013 @ 11:30 am
Langston Hughes Center, Bailey Hall rm. 1 (Free and Open to the Public)
September 2013
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"It is true in more senses than one, that slavery rests upon hell! Slavery as Hell, Embodiments and Experiences of Evil, and the Burdening of White Slaveholding Religion,"
Edward J. Blum, San Diego State University
September 9 , 2013 @ 11:30 am
Langston Hughes Center, Bailey Hall rm. 1 (Free and Open to the Public)
Spring 2013
April 2013
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Pulled Over: Racial Framing of Police Stops,"
Chuck Epp, University of Kansas
April 8 , 2013 @ 11:30 am
Langston Hughes Center, Bailey Hall rm. 1 (Free and Open to the Public)
March 2013
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"The Marley Hypothesis: Racism Denial and Epistemologies of Ignorance,"
Phia Slater, Texas A&M University
Glenn Adams, University of Kansas
March 11 , 2013 @ 11:30 am
Langston Hughes Center, Bailey Hall rm. 1 (Free and Open to the Public)
February 2013
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Chosen People: The Rise of American Black Israelite Religions,"
Jacob S. Dorman, University of Kansas
February 11 , 2013 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove E (Free and Open to the Public)
Fall 2012
November 2012
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Accreditation and Challenges of HBCUs,"
Jerry Crawford II, University of Kansas
November 12 , 2012 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
October 2012
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"SOUL Train Chicago: NATIONALIST Beginning,"
Randal Maurice Jelks, University of Kansas
October 22 , 2012 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
September 2012
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Mad Men and the Northern Civil Rights Front of the 1960s,"
Clarence Lang, University of Kansas
September 10 , 2012 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
Spring 2012
April 2012
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Occupy Detroit: Race, Radicalism, and Representation,"
David Goldberg, Wayne State University
April 9 , 2012 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
March 2012
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Know Your Genes, Meet Your Ancestors, Reunite Your Roots!" Selling DNA ancestry testing and Root-Seekers' engagement with African Diaspoic Biosocial Networks"
Elonda Clay
March 12 , 2012 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
February 2012
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Abandoned in the Heartland"
Jennifer F. Hamer, University of Kansas
February 13 , 2012 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
Fall 2011
November 2011
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Considering Afro-Mexicans in the African Diaspora"
Robert Schwaller, University of Kansas
November 14, 2011 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
October 2011
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"African American Literature: Dead or Alive"
Maryemma Graham, University of Kansas
October 3, 2011 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
September 2011
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Speaking with a Fire-Tongue: The Soucouyant as a Vocal Subaltern"
Crystal Boson, University of Kansas
September 12, 2011 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
October 2011
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"African American Literature: Dead or Alive"
Maryemma Graham, University of Kansas
October 3, 2011 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
November 2011
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Considering Afro-Mexicans in the African Diaspora"
Robert Schwaller, University of Kansas
November 14, 2011 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
Fall 2011
September 2011
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Speaking with a Fire-Tongue: The Soucouyant as a Vocal Subaltern"
Crystal Boson, University of Kansas
September 12, 2011 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
October 2011
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"African American Literature: Dead or Alive"
Maryemma Graham, University of Kansas
October 3, 2011 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
November 2011
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Considering Afro-Mexicans in the African Diaspora"
Robert Schwaller, University of Kansas
November 14, 2011 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
Spring 2011
February 2011
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Terror in Tennessee: The Lynching of Elbert Williams and the Pursuit of Economic Justice in Brownsville," Zanice Bond de Perez, University of Kansas
February 14, 2011 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
March 2011
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"The Quest for Citizenship: African American and Native American Education in Kansas," Kim Warren, University of Kansas
March 14, 2011 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
April 2011
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Manning Marable: Remembering a Scholar and an Activist" Clarence Lang and Shawn Leigh Alexander, University of Kansas
April 11, 2011 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
Fall 2010
September 2010
"boundlibertybelles," DaMaris Hill, University of Kansas
September 13, 2010 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
October 2010
"After Lunch Poems," William J. Harris, University of Kansas
October 11, 2010 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
November 2010
"Even Dead I Was A Threat To Them - The Assassination of Patrice Lumumba and the Fragmentation of the Black Freedom Struggle," Elizabeth Brickson, University of Kansas
November 8, 2010 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
Spring 2010
February 2010
"Representations of Black History as Tools of Liberation and Oppression," Phia Salter, University of Kansas
February 8, 2010 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
March 2010
"Historian as Detective: Uncovering the Lynching of Fred Alexander", Christopher Lovett, Emporia State University
March 8, 2010 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
April 2010
"William Styron's Nat Turner: Rhetoric, Confession, and the Question of Violence", Dave Tell, University of Kansas
April 12, 2010 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
Fall 2009
September 2009
"Forging an American Pluralism: The Mexican Revolution and American Civil RIghts," Ruben Flores, University of Kansas
September 14, 2009 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove E (Free and Open to the Public)
October 2009
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Remembering Dr. John Hope Franklin, Ronald Takaki, and Kenneth Stampp," David Katzman and other faculty members of the University of Kansas
October 12, 2009 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
November 2009
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Rights, Race, and Recognition," Derrick Darby, University of Kansas
November 9, 2009 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove A (Free and Open to the Public)
Spring 2009
February 2009
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Rowing Not Drifting' The Women of the Kansas Association of Colored Women, 1900-30" Doretha Williams, University of Kansas
February 9, 2009 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove J (Free and Open to the Public)
March 2009
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"A 'Bad Nationalist' in the International Zone: Claude McKay in Tangier,"
Gary Holcomb, Emporia State University
March 9, 2009 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove D (Free and Open to the Public)
April 2009
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"The Replication of Victorian Racial Ideology in Harry Potter,"
Giselle L. Anatol, University of Kansas
April 13, 2009 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove D (Free and Open to the Public)
Fall 2008
September 2008
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"Circus, Shriners, and Fairs, Oh My: An Alternative History of Black Islam and American Orientalism,"Jacob Dorman, University of Kansas
September 8 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove J (Free and Open to the Public)
October 2008
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series -- Special Panel
Barack Obama's Candidacy: America, Race and the Historical Moment
Panelists: Dorthy Pennington (AAAS & Communications)
Jonathan Earle (History and the Dole Institute)
Donald Haider-Markel (Political Science)
David Jones, Jr. (KU Student & KS Democratic Party)
October 13, 2008 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Woodruff Auditorium (Free and Open to the Public)
November 2008
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"In Our Own Words and Photographs: Documenting the African American experience in the Kansas Region," Deborah Dandridge, University of Kansas
November 10, 2008 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove J (Free and Open to the Public)
December 2008
Jesse B. Semple Brownbag Series
"After Winter: The Regeneration of Sterling Brown's Art and Life,"
John Edgar Tidwell, University of Kansas
December 8, 2008 @ 11:30 am
Kansas Union, Alcove J (Free and Open to the Public)
Benjamin Elijah Mays/Drawing The Ling/Dance Floor Democracy
Reframing Randolph/African American Literature/Lowrider Space
Production of Difference/Backroads Pragmatists/Confessional Crises
Race Survived/Shadow of the Sixties/Seizing Freedom
Abandoned in the Heartland/The Aftermath of Slavery/After Winter
Reframing Randolph/African American Literature/Lowrider Space
Benjamin Elijah Mays/Drawing The Ling/Dance Floor Democracy
An Army of Lions/Reconstruction Violence/Fly in the Night