Georgetown University

Scholars, artists and journalists will explore how race and ethnicity are performed in Washington, D.C., and how the performing arts express the city’s unique attributes as a multi-racial, multi-ethnic city of immigrants and residents.

Georgetown will host “Beyond Category: Performing Race & Politics in Washington, D.C.” The conference will explore the capacity of the performing arts to advance public understanding (both within the scholarly community and the public at large) of the complex relationships that race, ethnicity and migration entail and seeks to engage the public, students and scholars around the common questions of how race and ethnicity are performed in Washington, D.C., and how the performing arts express the city’s unique attributes as a multi-racial, multi-ethnic city of immigrants and residents.

9:45 a.m. | Opening Remarks

10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | Struggle to be Heard

• Denise Brennan, associate professor of anthropology at Georgetown University
• Caroline Brettell, Dedman Family Distinguished Professor in the department of anthropology at Southern Methodist University
• Justine Cox, Arthur Liman Fellow at CASA de Maryland
• Nancy Foner, distinguished professor of sociology at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York
• Michelle Mendez, staff attorney at CASA de Maryland
• Marie Price, associate professor of geography and international affairs at George Washington University
• Debra Lattanzi Shutika, associate Professor of English at George Mason University

In the past decades, immigration has reshaped the political, economic, racial and cultural dynamics of the city and surrounding areas in Virginia and Maryland. This session brings together academics and activists to discuss old and new tensions and divides – as well as points of solidarity – along issues of race, citizenship, and labor conditions.

1:15 - 3:15 p.m. | Black Washington, D.C.

• Elizabeth Clark-Lewis, professor of history at Howard University
• Rusty Hassan, commentator for WPFW.org
• Maurice Jackson, assistant professor of history at Georgetown University
• Jon Woodson, professor of English at Howard University

This session explores how D.C. and its African American population have developed since the early 1900s, how issues of race, class, gender, the riots of 1919 and 1968, education, gentrification, political disenfranchise, political activity and the struggle for home rule have shaped the city’s identity and local politics.

3:30 - 5:30 p.m. | D.C.’s Voice

• William Brower, author and curator for The Kennedy Center’s Jazz in D.C. Festival
• Anna Celenza, associate professor of music and chair of the department of performing arts at Georgetown
• Anya Grundmann, executive producer of NPR Music
• Charlie Haden, musician and composer
• Kevin O’Donnell, assistant editor at Rolling Stone magazine

Musicians, music journalists and scholars will discuss how music in D.C. has changed since the Civil Rights era. They will explore topics such as censorship, technology, state support of the arts and the religious and cultural implications of musical performance in relation to the issues of race and immigration.