Established in 1972, the University of Pennsylvania W.E.B. Du Bois College House hosts students, faculty, and staff that are committed to a Penn experience that advances the legacy of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois in a college house setting.
The Souls of Du Bois Conference is an annual event hosted by Du Bois College House at the University of Pennsylvania to celebrate the African diaspora and to commemorate the legacy of W.E.B Du Bois’s contributions to the Black community. This year is a special year, as we will celebrate Du Bois’s 150th birthday. The conference will be held on February 23rd and 24th, 2018 with the theme “Lift Every Voice: Innovation and Education.” Du Bois was innovative educator himself. He celebrated the arts, produced scholarship, and produced content in the most cutting-edge ways, all to bring attention to the beauty and struggles of Black people. We would like to invite you to be part of this event to learn how other change-makers in the Black diaspora are continuing Du Bois's innovative legacy through their work.
The three areas of focus are:
- Social Media as the new age "The Crisis" publication and how it serves as an innovative tool for black advancement
-Performing Arts as a tool to spread messages of the plight and beauty of Black people
- Scholarship as a ladder to success
SCHEDULE
Friday, February 23, 2018
Opening Reception - 7:30 pm- 9:30 pm
A Networking Reception for students, professionals, and scholars. Beer and Wine will be available for those 21 and over along with light hors D’ oeuvres. The keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Howard Stevenson.
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Breakfast 10:00 am -10:55am
Session 1 (Please Choose 1) 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Slam Poetry with Jasmine L. Combs
In her performance, Jasmine will explore Blackness, how it intersects with her other identities and informs her lived experience in both a personal and universal context.
Black Business Boom: Using Social Media to Level the Field with Morgan A. Brown
In the Black Business Boom workshop, Morgan Brown shows current and potential business owners how to use social media to build, thrive, and advertise in innovative and creative ways. Many businesses others methods innovated in the social media era--popular hashtags, YouTube reviews, and Facebook fan pages--to bring potential customers to their products. The options are unlimited, and this workshop will provide people all the knowledge they need to choose what works for their business.
Black Music and Social Protest: From "Souls" to Kendrick Lamar with Guthrie Ramsey, Ph. D.
Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Music , University of Pennsylvania
This talk discusses the ways that African American music has been instrumental in social protest and empowerment from slavery to present.
Lunch 12:00 pm- 1:30 pm
Session 2 (Please Choose 1) 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Black Twitter: What has it done for you lateley? with Feminista Jones, Robin Stevens, Ph.D., Taylor-Rae Collins Headley, and Ernest Owens
This panel sheds light on the ways African Americans in the U.S. utilize social media as an innovative tool to challenge racial bias, strengthen communities, and influence culture. Just as many African Americans assert that Black culture is pop culture, many members of the "Twitterverse" would contend that; right, wrong , or indifferent, there is no Twitter without Black Twitter. Discussions will cover everything from Critical Race and Feminist theories to how social media can be used as a voice for Black people on social and political issues. Panelists also discuss social media, specifically Twitter, as a tool for Black women and men to (re)construct their bodies and identities, challenging the "control images" widespread in mainstream media and society at large.
The Institute of Hip Hop Entrepreneurship and Black Entrepreneurialism with Tayyib Smith
The Institute of Hip Hop Entrepreneurship emphasizes a new way of teaching fiscal literacy, one that is much more accessible than formal business school to the people which it serves. By understanding the deep-rooted history of Hip- Hop's relationship with entrepreneurship, the Institute of Hip Hop Entrepreneurship toils to manifest the best aspects of hip-hop culture in comprehensive business education for its students.
Du Bois and Nkrumah: Lessons of Pan-Africanism for Scholarship and Activism Today with Krystal Strong, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor; Literacy, Culture, and International Education Division Graduate
School of Education; University of Pennsylvania
In 2018, we celebrate the 150th birthday of W.E.B. Du Bois and the 75th anniversary of Kwame Nkrumah’s degree from Penn’s Graduate School of Education. The lives of Nkrumah and Du Bois, whose paths brought them both to the University of Pennsylvania and Nkrumah’s native Ghana, represent “innovation” in scholarship and, most importantly, the struggles of Black people to overturn from white supremacy, empire, and capitalism. With reference to her scholarship on youth activism in Africa and organizing work in Philadelphia, this talk, by Dr. Krystal Strong, touches on the importance of their legacies for the present moment, and what we can learn from their commitments to Pan-Africanism and the liberation of Africa and all people of African descent.
Closing Keynote @ The University of Pennsylvania Law School 3:30 pm -5:00 pm
Dr. Elijah Anderson
William K. Lanman, Jr. Professor of Sociology and Professor of African American Studies, Yale University