IAH hosts Paul Gilroy reading group to prepare for visit from cultural critic and historian

September 13, 2007

Chapel Hill, N.C. — Sixty-plus faculty and graduate students discussed the work of acclaimed cultural critic and historian Paul Gilroy Sept. 11 at the first meeting of a reading group formed in anticipation of his visit to campus in January.

The reading group is part of a series of events hosted by the Institute for the Arts and Humanities that will culminate with Gilroy's visit in January as a Kenan Visiting Scholar. The program is a special opportunity provided to the university community by the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust.

Gilroy, the Anthony Giddens Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics, is especially noted for his work on the black Diaspora and the migration of peoples, cultures, and ideas between Africa, the Caribbean, England, and North America. He has written six books, including The Black Atlantic (Harvard University Press, 1993) and Against Race (Harvard University Press, 2000).

"I'm thrilled with the large and diverse turn-out for the reading group," said IAH Director John McGowan. "Gilroy is the perfect figure around which to galvanize the intellectual community here at UNC because his work has been important to so many different people in so many different disciplines."

The reading group will study three of Gilroy's works during monthly meetings this fall.

Jennifer Ho, assistant professor of English and Comparative Literature, leads the reading group.

"The people attending the reading group come from different perspectives, and each of us sees different connections in Gilroy's work that others of us don't see, and it's really rich," Ho said.

Tim McMillan, adjunct assistant professor in the Department of African and Afro-American Studies, attended the first meeting of the group not only because he's interested in Gilroy's perspective on definitions of race and the African Diaspora, but also for the opportunity to connect with other scholars.

"Being able to bounce ideas off other people and hear how people from other disciplines think about things is something that makes working at a university exciting," McMillan said.

During Gilroy's January visit, he will meet informally with faculty and students and will give a keynote address at a conference on issues raised by his work. Other sponsors are the University Program in Cultural Studies, the Sonja Haynes Center for Black Culture and History, the Institute of African-American Research and Duke University's Franklin Humanities Institute.

For more information about the reading group, contact Jennifer Ho at jho@email.unc.edu.

For more information about Gilroy's visit, visit www.iah.unc.edu.

The Institute for the Arts and Humanities (IAH), part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's College of Arts and Sciences, offers programs and activities that support UNC faculty at every stage of their careers. The IAH funds individual and collaborative research, showcases faculty work, develops faculty leaders and teachers, and facilitates the formation of collaborative, interdisciplinary communities that promote intellectual exchange. For more information, visit www.iah.unc.edu.