{"id":30472,"date":"2016-11-02T12:00:07","date_gmt":"2016-11-02T16:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=30472"},"modified":"2016-11-13T11:50:56","modified_gmt":"2016-11-13T16:50:56","slug":"vcu-professor-expert-african-american-women-bible-speak-sketches-slave-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/vcu-professor-expert-african-american-women-bible-speak-sketches-slave-life\/","title":{"rendered":"VCU professor, expert on African American women and the Bible to speak on ‘Sketches of Slave Life’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Professor Katherine Bassard brings her expertise in African American literature to Eastern Mennonite University on Thursday, Nov. 10. She will give a presentation titled \u2018Truly a Christian Act’: Freedom and Faith in Peter Randolph’s Sketches of Slave Life<\/a>” <\/em>at 7 p.m. in Martin Chapel.<\/em> Bassard<\/a> is senior vice provost for faculty affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.<\/p>\n

The lecture will highlight her latest scholarly work, Sketches of Slave Life and From Slave Cabin to the Pulpit <\/em><\/a>(West Virginia Press, 2016) in which she served as editor of the first anthology of Randolph\u2019s autobiographical writings.<\/p>\n

Randolph was an African American abolitionist, minister and community leader. Born enslaved on a Virginia plantation, he moved with several freed slaves to Boston, from which he helped the Baptist church become a thriving denomination among African American Protestants. His writings provide an accurate perspective of enslaved life, African American religious customs, and ministerial work.<\/p>\n

Admission is free (donations appreciated), with light refreshments and books available for purchase after the event.<\/p>\n

English professor Marti Eads<\/a> says she is delighted Bassard is visiting EMU. \u201cPraise for Kathryn Bassard’s scholarship in African American literature as well as for her presentation skills has\u00a0made me eager to have her speak at EMU for some time. Moreover, her Christian conviction animates her work. I expect her campus presentations\u00a0to be both challenging and edifying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bassard will also give a chapel address Friday, Nov. 11, at 10 a.m. in Martin Chapel and meet with the Black Student Union.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an ordained Baptist minister, Kathy is superbly qualified to challenge us with a message on racial reconciliation,\u201d says Language and Literature Department<\/a> Chair Mike Medley<\/a>. \u201cAs an academic with a remarkable record of scholarly publications and now a top administrator at one of the Commonwealth’s largest universities, she is the kind of leader who will inspire and challenge us all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bassard earned her undergraduate degree at Wake Forest, a master\u2019s degree at VCU, and her PhD, along with a graduate certificate in women\u2019s studies, at Rutgers University.<\/p>\n

From 1992-1999, Bassard taught at the University of California \u2013 Berkeley where she rose to the rank of associate professor. She returned to VCU in 1999 and was appointed professor of English in 2010.<\/p>\n

She has received numerous awards and grants, including recognition by the Center for Teaching Excellence, Honor\u2019s College, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, as well as from the Pew and Ford foundations. In 2005, she was the recipient of the VCU\u2019s prestigious Elske V.P. Smith Distinguished Lecturer award.<\/p>\n

Recent publications include Spiritual Interrogations: Culture, Gender, and Community in Early African American Women\u2019s Writing<\/em><\/a> (Princeton University Press, 1999) and Transforming Scriptures: African American Women Writers and the Bible<\/em><\/a> (University of Georgia Press, 2010).<\/p>\n

She examines poetry, novels, speeches, sermons, and prayers by African American women from Maria W. Stewart to Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison, discussing how such texts respond as a collective \u201cliterary witness\u201d to the use of the Bible for purposes of social domination. Bassard spoke about this topic in 2012 as a guest on the radio show \u201cWith Good Reason<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Professor Katherine Bassard brings her expertise in African American literature to Eastern Mennonite University on Thursday, Nov. 10. She will give a presentation titled \u2018Truly a Christian Act’: Freedom and ... read more about VCU professor, expert on African American women and the Bible to speak on ‘Sketches of Slave Life’<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7931,5589,14184,5861,17562,356,5597],"tags":[6795,6085,10786],"feature":[17241],"class_list":["post-30472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-bible-and-religion","category-campus-guests","category-conferences-and-events","category-digest","category-language-and-literature","category-liberal-arts","tag-diversity","tag-marti-eads","tag-mike-medley","feature-news-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nVCU professor, expert on African American women and the Bible to speak on 'Sketches of Slave Life' - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/vcu-professor-expert-african-american-women-bible-speak-sketches-slave-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VCU professor, expert on African American women and the Bible to speak on 'Sketches of Slave Life' - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Professor Katherine Bassard brings her expertise in African American literature to Eastern Mennonite University on Thursday, Nov. 10. 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