Magdalena J. Zaborowska will deliver the 2022 Mary Stevens Reckford Lecture in European Studies, titled “Between Home, Blackness, and Me: Unsettling Locations, Lives, and Archives in American Literary Studies.” Zaborowska is a professor of African American and American literary and cultural studies at the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Her research includes literary and cultural studies and African American literature, with a particular emphasis on James Baldwin. Her book, James Baldwin’s Turkish Decade: Erotics of Exile, received an Honorable Mention for the Errol Hill Award from the American Society for Theater Research. In 2018, Zaborowska published Me and My House: James Baldwin’s Last Decade in France, where she examines the themes of his works through the lens of his sprawling house in southern France.
Black History Month has been celebrated in the United States as far back as 1926 when American historian Carter G. Woodson established the commemoration to honor the contributions made to our nation by people of African descent. The second week of February was chosen for this commemoration to coincide with the birthdays of abolitionist/editor Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln. As part of the nation’s bicentennial in 1976, the weeklong celebration was expanded to a month. Ever since U.S. presidents have proclaimed February as National African American History Month.
Numerous events are held across campus (both virtually and in person) at UNC-Chapel Hill during Black History Month in recognition of the historical background that has shaped the contributions of African Americans to our country. These include panel discussions, lectures, discussions, and more.