Fulbright Lecture on Afrofuturism (16 Dec. 2021)

Dear Fulbrighters and Friends,

It is our great pleasure to invite you to our next Webinar with Fulbright alumna Prof. Dr. Priscilla Layne (The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and Fulbright alumnus Prof. Dr. Dennis Chester (California State University, East Bay) on 16 December 2021 at 7:00 pm CET | 2:00 pm EDT | 11:00 am PDT.

Dr. Cathleen Fisher, Executive Director of Fulbright Germany, will open our Fulbright Lecture on Afrofuturism.

“The term “Afrofuturism” was first coined by cultural critic Mark Dery, in his 1994 essay “Black to the Future,” which described a decades-old cultural and theoretical phenomenon that had since spanned several countries in the African diaspora. Afrofuturism encompassed the space fantasies of jazz artist Sun Ra and the sci-fi stories and novels of Octavia Butler, and African diasporic artists’ engagement with science, science fiction, speculative fiction, and fantasy. Dery proposed that African Americans, in particular, had found solace in engaging in sci-fi narratives, whether in literature, music, or film. Considering the strangeness of African diasporic life, science fiction had become one of the most suitable genres for addressing their experiences.” (Priscilla Layne)

Please register here: Zoom

Your Fulbright Germany Team