LAMACS

A Retrospective on African Canadian History

Speaker: Lawrence Hill
June 14-16, 2012
Ticket Price: $16.50 inclusive

As part of the fifth annual Promised Land Symposium “Claiming the Promise: A Retrospective on African Canadian History”, the symposium is offering an evening with award winning and international best-selling Canadian author Lawrence Hill. Among his work including Any Known Blood and Some Great Thing is the critically acclaimed and influential The Book of Negroes.
 Lawrence Hill’s talk this evening will touch on various topics from his personal experiences growing up in suburban Toronto and the effect of that experience on his creative work; his experiences writing about and researching “Black History” in this country and; the themes of this year’s Promised Land Symposium. 
 
Also this evening a special award ceremony will take place as representatives of Distinguished Women in International Service recognize the winners of a local youth Black History writing competition.   Read the rest of this entry »

Articulations of memory in cinemas

Friday 02 September – Saturday 03 September 2011
University of Ottawa, Canada

Download the Programme PDF or the timetable in French or English.

The subject of this interdisciplinary and bilingual (French and English) workshop is the articulations of memory in African, diasporic, national, and black cinemas. Representations of memory are linked with the questions of identity and identity structures, because they not only shed light on the past but also reflect on the actual constructions of the past. In our multicultural societies, audio-visual representations of memory seem to question individual identities (Histoires de Sable by Hyacinthe Combari 2004; Corps Plongés by Raoul Peck 1998; Ezra by Newton Aduaka 2006), as far as collectives ones (Camp Thiaroye by Sembene Ousmane 1988; Summer of ‘62 by Medhi Charef 2006; Africa United by Eric Kabera 2010). Through these examples, cinema can be a recording medium in which complex and trans-temporal structures of memory are “rebuilt” or “reinterpreted”.

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A Distinguished Visiting Researcher in Residence Public Seminar

Thursday November 17
Arts 509
5:30
70 Laurier Ave. West

Professor Fethi Mansouri
Director, Centre for Citizenship and Globalisation Deakin University, Australia

Presented by The Audiovisual Media Lab for the study of Cultures and Societies (LAMACS) and Laboratory of African and Diasporic Studies (LEAD) University of Ottawa, Canada

Transnational ties and their consequent configurations for citizenship and intercultural relations are shaping the way new social and political relationships are being constructed within the nation state. This lecture will examine our understanding of the interrelationship between transnational practices and local integration among migrants in the west. It will explore whether an upholding of transnational ties can in some cases work against developing a sense of connection to one’s local environment. It will also examine the complex relationship between transnational practices and related cultural identities on the one hand and issues of national belonging and active citizenship outcomes on the other. In doing so, the seminar will reflect on whether transnationalism in general can be posited as a potential conduit toward local integration, despite the obvious tensions relating to social inequality among migrant communities in western émigré societies.

Biography
Professor Fethi Mansouri, Director of the Centre for Citizenship and Globalisation, holds a Chair in Migration and Intercultural Relations, School of International and Political Studies, Deakin University. He is the author of several publications that deal with questions of diaspora and identity including Islam and Political Violence: Muslim Diaspora and Radicalism in the West, (2007). His 2004 book Lives in Limbo: Lives in Limbo: Voices of Refugees under Temporary Protection was short-listed for the 2004 Human Rights Medals and Awards.

Sponsored by: The Faculty of Arts
The Office of Vice-President Research

For more information email:
Lamacs@uOttawa.ca
(613) 562-5800 ext. 2985
(seats are limited RSVP)

Reframing multiculturalism for the 21st century’s realities

Monday 21 November – Tuesday 22 November 2011
University of Ottawa, Canada

Citizens of multicultural nations often struggle to realize and establish an identity that bridges both their complex past with the uniqueness of their multiple cultural connections as well as their (trans)national belongings. Indeed, in many cases, multiculturalism, as a political structure based on institutionalizing social justice and social equality in many nations is being challenged, not merely because such politics for equality and social justice have failed to establish their main objectives, but because the ideal of such politics must not disregard the human capacity to resist, negotiate or embrace.

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