The two-day symposium is an ongoing series that features work by young scholars who are invited to share their new research in African and African American studies. The aim is to highlight grounbreaking work in the field and broadly consider new directions that are shaping African American Studies. 

This year's symposium will explore how spirituality has influenced and infiltrated the lives of black people around the globe. The major queston gui8ding our discussion will be how does the spirit realm materialize in the everyday social and religious practices of black people in Africa and througout the diaspora. 

Thursday schedule

10 to 10:30 a.m. Vaugh Booker, Dartmouth College "Virtuoso Ancestars: Relics, Pilgrimages, Shrines, and Perfromance in the Reverence of Departed Black Jazz Musicians"

10:30 to 11 a.m. Terri Brinegar, University of Florida
"The Voice of the African American Minister: The Catalyst for Spirited Connectivity and Conversion." 

11 to 11:30 a.m. Cory Hunter, University of Rochester "My Worship Is For Real" 

2:30 to 4 p.m. Keynote Speaker: Melvin Butler, University of Miami "Boundaries and Battle LInes: Music, Worship, and Spiritual Warfare in Haitian Pentecostal Churches."