Activists and scholars will visit the University of Dayton to examine a variety of issues about the past, present and future of New Orleans, its people and their culture Oct. 16-18 during the 15th annual Humanities Symposium.
“Race, Class and History: New Orleans Post Katrina,” will bring to
campus issues of recovery that many members of the UD community have
already seen first hand. More than 200 students, faculty and staff have
volunteered on Katrina relief projects. Another group of students will
bring to the symposium their fresh experience working in New Orleans
Oct. 7-10, in a project organized by UD’s Center for Social Concern.
All lectures will be held in Sears Recital Hall and are free and open to the public. The
schedule includes:
Ansel Augustine, 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16.
Augustine, coordinator of black youth and young adult ministry,
Archdiocese of New Orleans, opens the series. Augustine, whose home was
destroyed by Katrina, will speak on “Faith after the Storm.”
Jed Horne, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17.
Horne is the Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and author of Breach of
Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City.
The former metro editor of the New Orleans Times Picayune will speak
about his book, which the Washington Post credits with providing “new
insights into how a ferocious storm, governmental ineptitude and
racially tinged inequities conspired to permanently jeopardize one of
the nation's cultural gems.” Edward Haas, history department chair at
Wright State University and former director of the Louisiana Historical
Center, will provide a counterpoint to Horne’s remarks. Haas’s research
has compared federal response to Katrina with Hurricane Betsy in 1965.
Gregory Squires, 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18.
Squires is the chair of the George Washington University sociology
department and editor of There is No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster:
Race, Class and Hurricane Katrina. His collection of scholarly articles
covers topics such as contemporary metropolitan planning, the roles of
business and the media, and how the hurricane disproportionately
impacted female-headed households.
“There’s no other city dearer to my heart than New Orleans,” said symposium coordinator John Heitmann, UD’s Alumni Chair in the Humanities. “For me, it is one of the most important cities in the world culturally, socially, and economically, and its future is an incredibly critical question.”
Heitmann, a historian who has written extensively on Louisiana, said he expects the symposium speakers, with their range of perspectives and experiences, to bring to light how much remains to be done in New Orleans beyond the physical rebuilding.
“How that rebuilding will be done, will tell us much about our nation and its future,” he said.
For Humanities Symposium information, call 937-229-3490.
