News

What:
Valerie Smith, Woodrow Wilson Professor of Literature and director of African American Studies at Princeton University, will present a lecture and multimedia presentation on "Memory and the Civil Rights Movement," at Portland State University. The event is co-sponsored by PSU's Black Studies department, History department, Women's Studies department, Student Speakers' Board, Academically-Controlled Auxiliary Activities Committee and PSU Friends of History.

When:
Thursday, May 19th, 2005; Reception and book signing at 4 p.m. Lecture begins at 4:30 p.m.

Where:
PSU's Cramer Hall, room 494 (1721 S.W. Broadway)

Cost:
The event is free and open to the public.

Contact:
For more information, contact Patricia Schechter at 503-725-3007 or schechterp@pdx.edu

Background:
Valerie Smith's research and teaching interests include African American literature and culture, black feminist theory, black film and twentieth century U. S. literature. She is the author of Self-Discovery and Authority in Afro-American Narrative, and Not Just Race, Not Just Gender: Black Feminist Readings. She is the editor of African American Writers, Representing Blackness: Issues in Film and Video, and New Essays on Song of Solomon, and has also co-edited a special issue of the Black American Literature Forum (now African American Review) on black film, and a special issue of the Signs on gender and cultural memory. At present, Smith is writing a book on the Civil Rights Movement in cultural memory.

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