“Race, Aesthetics, Speculation” brings together leading scholars to examine how the representation of race and ethnicity intersects with theories of aesthetics, literary form, and speculative thought. The event foregrounds aesthetic production by people of color and explores how form, genre, and speculation shape our understanding of politics, history, and the contemporary moment. By convening interdisciplinary conversations that challenge dominant narratives and highlight systematically excluded ways of knowing, the symposium aims to reassert the humanities’ vital role in interpreting culture, imagining alternative worlds, and confronting the remainders of history.

Schedule: 

9:00 AM-9:45 AM – Breakfast 

10:00 AM-11:00 AM – Justin Mann, Northwestern University, “Getting Lost in the Dark: Speculations on the Aesthetics of Black Insecurity”

• Moderator: Harris Feinsod, Johns Hopkins University

11:15 AM-12:15 PM – Aimee Bhang, Pomona College, “Asian America’s Gendered Adjacency to the Tech Broligarchy” 

• Moderator: TBD

12:30 PM-2:00 PM – Lunch, The Study (RSVP: [email protected]) 

2:15 PM-3:15 PM – Yogita Goyal, English, UCLA, “Late Style and the Postcolonial Novel”

• Moderator: Nadia Nurhussein, Johns Hopkins University

3:30 PM-4:30 PM – Glenda Carpio, Harvard University, Title TBD

• Moderator: Daniel Desormeaux, Johns Hopkins University

4:45 PM-5:45 PM – Mary Pat Brady, Cornell University, Title TBD

• Moderator: Maia Gil’Adí, Johns Hopkins University

Please reach out to Prof. Maia Gil’Adí ([email protected]) to RSVP.

Address: The Study Hotel, 3215 N Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21218

Programming made possible through generous contributions from the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute, LACLxS, the Chloe Center, the Global South Initiative, the Center for Africana Studies, and the Departments of Modern Languages & Literatures, Philosophy, Comparative Thought & Literature, and English.