Tune in to CMCI鈥檚 One College Colloquium for an inside look at SM调教所鈥檚 new Center for African and African American Studies
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The College of Media, Communication听and Information will feature the new during its first One College Colloquium event of the semester.
- What:听CMCI One College Colloquium: Introducing SM调教所's New Center for African and African American Studies (CAAAS)
- Who: CAAAS Founding Director Reiland Rabaka in conversation with听Media Studies Associate Professor听Nabil Echchaibi
- When: From 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 28
- Where:听
The SM调教所 approved the center, or the CAAAS (pronounced 鈥渢he cause鈥�), in May in response to student activism, faculty support and years of effort spearheaded by Professor Reiland Rabaka to create a central space for听Black culture and community on campus. It is the first center of its kind at the university.
鈥淲e took Black Lives Matter very seriously. We transformed this institution that we love so much,鈥� said Rabaka, CAAAS founding director and professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies. 鈥淚f I criticize SM调教所 Boulder, it鈥檚 only because I love it. . . .We could be better. They talk about 鈥楤e Bolder.鈥� Be better.鈥�
The upcoming colloquium will focus on the vision, aspirations and plans of the new center through an in-depth conversation between Rabaka and Nabil Echchaibi, associate chair for graduate studies in Media Studies.
will take place from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 28.听
CAAAS promises to be a hub of research, teaching, performance, consciousness-raising and community-building dedicated to Black history, Black culture and Black struggle on the Boulder campus and beyond.听The multipurpose space, which aims to open in the Macky Auditorium building in 2022, welcomes scholars, students, artists, activists and allies.
In a pre-filmed interview, Echchaibi and Rabaka discuss race in Boulder, the responsibility for improving race-related experiences, the historical evolution of race in the city and current events, including the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota in 2020.
鈥淗e (Rabaka) was saying, if you鈥檙e putting a sign on your yard that says 鈥楤lack Lives Matter,鈥� that鈥檚 fine, that鈥檚 wonderful. But what are you going to do about it? This sentiment you have has to be translated into action. The center provides that platform,鈥� Echchaibi said. 鈥淚 think his plea was an invitation to anyone who shares in that sentiment to come into the center and do their part.鈥�
Audience members will be invited to further these discussions during the event鈥檚 virtual question and answer session.
The CMCI One College Colloquium series is one of several ways in which the college seeks to foster and support interdisciplinary engagement and a vibrant intellectual community of artists, humanities scholars, social scientists听and designers within the college, across the campus and beyond the university.
Past colloquia have focused on environmental communication and immigration. This year鈥檚 colloquia will bring an interdisciplinary focus on the many ways that media, communication and information relate to racial justice.