New York University is the main host of “James Baldwin’s Global Imagination,” a city-wide conference event exploring the impact of the author, playwright, and activist, with sessions held Saturday, February 19 and Sunday, February 20 in NYU’s Hemmerdinger Hall, Silver Center, 100 Washington Square East.

NYU Principal Host of City-Wide Conference, “James Baldwin’s Global Imagination”—Feb. 19 & 20
NYU is the main host of “James Baldwin’s Global Imagination,” a city-wide conference event exploring the impact of the author, playwright, and activist, with sessions held Saturday, February 19 and Sunday, February 20 in NYU’s Hemmerdinger Hall, Silver Center, 100 Washington Square East. The above photograph was taken in Istanbul in 1966. Photo courtesy of Sedat Pakay.

New York University is the main host of “James Baldwin’s Global Imagination,” a city-wide conference event exploring the impact of the author, playwright, and activist, with sessions held Saturday, February 19 and Sunday, February 20 in NYU’s Hemmerdinger Hall, Silver Center, 100 Washington Square East (enter at 32 Waverly Place or 31 Washington Place). Subway Lines:  6 (Astor Place); A, B, C, D, E, F (West 4th Street); N, R (8th Street).

The conference’s first event, in collaboration with WNYC Radio, is Thursday, February 17 at the Studio Museum in Harlem. It continues Friday, February 18 with an opening plenary session and a concert featuring Tamar-Kali, Marc Cary, Somi, and many others at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. All events, with the exception of the Schomburg-hosted concert on February 18, are free and open to the public, but an RSVP is required. For events at NYU, please email baldwinconference@gmail.com. Call 212.992.9650 for more information. For a schedule of all events and sessions, click here.

Reporters interested in attending NYU-hosted events must RSVP to James Devitt, NYU’s Office of Public Affairs, at 212.998.6808 or james.devitt@nyu.edu.

NYU-hosted panels include: “James Baldwin and the Transatlantic,” “James Baldwin in the ‘Age’ of Obama,” “James Baldwin and the Social Sciences,” and “James Baldwin and the State.” Among the conference panelists are: author Colm Tóibín; Baldwin biographer James Campbell; NYU Sociologist Richard Sennett; Columbia University professor and Nation magazine columnist Patricia J. Williams; and Randall Kenan, editor of the recently published The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings of James Baldwin.

The conference is co-sponsored by several NYU entities: the Program in Africana Studies; the Institute for African-American Affairs; the Office of the Vice-Provost for Globalization and Academic Affairs; the Humanities Initiative; the Institute for Public Knowledge; the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality; the Asian/Pacific/American Institute; and the Department of English.

For tickets to the concert, call the Schomburg Shop at 212.491.2206 or visit Telecharge.com. Seats for the opening plenary session are on a first-come, first- served basis. For the event at the Studio Museum, please visit http://www.studiomuseum.org or e-mail rsvp@nypublicradio.org.

Press Contact

James Devitt
James Devitt
(212) 998-6808