The College of Arts and Science will host “What’s So Great about Keeping It Real? Social Critique in African American Culture,” a Bentson Dean’s Lecture by NYU Professor Phillip Harper, on Tues., Feb. 16.
New York University’s College of Arts and Science will host “What’s So Great about Keeping It Real? Social Critique in African American Culture,” a Bentson Dean’s Lecture by NYU Professor Phillip Harper, on Tues., Feb. 16, 5:30 p.m. in NYU’s Jurow Lecture Hall, Silver Center for Arts and Science, 100 Washington Square East (enter at 32 Waverly Place or 31 Washington Place [wheelchair accessible]).
Harper, Erich Maria Remarque Professor of Literature at NYU, posits that there are limits on how well realist representation can forward racial-political critique. His lecture will review the use of non-realist abstractionist aesthetics in African American expressive culture and consider its potential to promote social change.
Harper, author of the recently released Abstractionist Aesthetics: Artistic Form and Social Critique in African American Culture (NYU Press, 2015), is the director of the Gender and Sexuality Studies program and teaches in the Social and Cultural Analysis and English departments at NYU.
The event is free and open to the public. Call 212.998.8154 or email ken.kidd@nyu.edu for more information. Entry is on a first-come, first-served basis. Subway Lines: 6 (Astor Place); N, R (8th Street); A, B, C, D, E, F, M (West 4th Street).