Pitt's Africana Studies Department to Hold DuBois-Nkrumah-Dunham Inaugural Conference 2006

PITTSBURGH-The University of Pittsburgh's Department of Africana Studies will present an opportunity for scholars to explore the cultural identities of Africa and its Diaspora at the DuBois-Nkrumah-Dunham Inaugural Conference 2006, to be held March 31 and April 1 at the Wyndham Garden Hotel, 3454 Forbes Ave., Oakland.

The conference will highlight the central role of culture in the works of Africana studies' founding figures-civil rights activist and scholar W.E.B. Dubois; Ghana's first prime minister and later president Kwame Nkrumah; and anthropologist and dancer Katherine Dunham.

Keynote speakers are Tukufu Zuberi, professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, who will deliver a luncheon address titled "Human Identity and the African World" at 12:30 p.m. March 31, and Clenora Hudson-Weems, professor of English at the University of Missouri/Columbia, who will deliver a talk titled "Theoretical Paradigms in Africana Studies" at a 7 p.m. dinner April 1.

Panel discussion titles include "Information, Technology, and Media"; "Cultural Expression and Identity"; "Nkrumah-Cultural Unity and Integration"; "DuBois-Diaspora Challenges and Prospects"; and "Dunham-Performance and Africana Recovery." The conference is designed to promote further dialogue on the discipline of Africana studies.

There is a registration fee for the public. Registration for the panel discussions is on-site, and a limited number of luncheon and dinner tickets are available for purchase. For more information, call 412-648-7540.

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3/29/06/tmw