Lectures At Reed

Racialization And Class Struggle: Maoism and Sino-Black Relations Dr. Keisha Brown, Assistant Professor of History, Tennessee State University This talk discusses Black Internationalism in the Mao era and examines the impact of ideas of race and class in Sino-Black relations Dr. Brown is an Asian studies scholar with a regional focus on East Asia specializing in modern Chinese history. Her research and teaching interests include comparative East Asian histories, postcolonial theory, transnational studies, world history, and race and ethnic studies. Dr. Brown’s research examines networks of difference in China used to understand the Black foreign other through an investigation of the social and political context that African Americans navigated and negotiated during their time in Maoist China.

Kim M. Williams (Ph.D. 2001, Cornell University) is associate professor of Political Science at Portland State University. Her research and teaching focus on social movements, immigration, and racial politics in the United States. Her book, Mark One or More: Civil Rights in Multiracial America (University of Michigan Press, 2006), shows that even modest social movements can have profound effects on public policy. Among other places, her work has appeared in Studies in American Political Development, Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, Daedalus, Frontera Norte, and the Journal of African American Studies. Williams was an assistant professor at the Harvard Kennedy School from 2000-2010. She served on the U.S. Census Advisory Committee on the African American Population from 2008-2011. Recently, she was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University (2018-19), where she began work on a project about the Black Lives Matter movement and the elections of 2016 and 2020.

Portland has a wealth of grassroots resources to learn media skills for free, cheap, or trade. In this conversation between multi-media artist and agitator Erin Yanke and Phil Busse, Yanke will talk about her multi-pronged path to making radio, podcasts, movies, books, zines, and records. While debates in recent years about new media have risen to a fever pitch, they have raised legitimate concerns about use and abuse of current technologies. In response to these concerns and to benefit the communities in which they work, anthropologists of media have focused increasingly on methodologies that combine in-depth ethnography and collaborative media-making production.At the same time, a new generation of journalists and artists grappling with the expanding dominance of media conglomerates have looked to grassroots, collaborative, and non-profit multimedia projects designed to both benefit communities and inform larger audiences. This convergence of interest between anthropologists, artists, and journalists has come to be called "social impact" or "social justice" media production, in which producers are concerned as much with the capacity of media to impact and change societies as with its capacity to inform. For this Greenberg-sponsored event, Reed anthropologist Charlene Makley collaborates with Phil Busse, Executive Director of Portland's Media Institute for Social Change, to present a series of five public lectures on the politics and ethics of independent media-making in the 21st century. Explore this emerging form of media production at Reed this spring.Erin Yanke is a documentarian. She works in the mediums of audio, print, and video. Her work focuses on the unheard voice, how place can shape a life, comparative experience across identities, and the importance of the clean and sharp edit. Her many projects include 20+ years of radio production, audio zines,films, self published magazines, audio books, quite a few demo tapes, and a few pieces of vinyl. Recent projects include the Dead Moon photobook, First 100 Days event series Educate, Agitate, and Organize; the Rebellious Nurses podcast, and the film Arresting Power: Resisting Police Violence in Portland, Oregon. She is currently the program drector of KBOO Community Radio in Portland, Oregon.

André Middleton will present a comprehensive overview of the impact of digital media on our society in the modern age where technology has leveled the playing field. He'll explore how cell phones, mobile apps, and websites are radically changing how we create and consume media. While debates in recent years about new media have risen to a fever pitch, they have raised legitimate concerns about use and abuse of current technologies. In response to these concerns and to benefit the communities in which they work, anthropologists of media have focused increasingly on methodologies that combine in-depth ethnography and collaborative media-making production. At the same time, a new generation of journalists and artists grappling with the expanding dominance of media conglomerates have looked to grassroots, collaborative, and non-profit multimedia projects designed to both benefit communities and inform larger audiences. This convergence of interest between anthropologists, artists, and journalists has come to be called "social impact" or "social justice" media production, in which producers are concerned as much with the capacity of media to impact and change societies as with its capacity to inform. For this Greenberg-sponsored event, Reed anthropologist Prof. Charlene Makley collaborates with Phil Busse, Executive Director of Portland's Media Institute for Social Change, to present a series of five public lectures on the politics and ethics of independent media-making in the 21st century. Explore this emerging form of media production at Reed this spring. André Middleton is a community engagement professional who has built a career by sharing his privilege and connecting community members with resources and opportunities. Middleton is a founding board member and executive director of Friends of Noise, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering youth development through the production and curating of all ages music concerts. He is member of the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art and Art Workers for Equity, a host of XRAY.FM Group Therapy radio show, and a Reed Relay Mentor. Middleton is also an avid motorcyclist, a proud parent, and a staunch ally for the marginalized and oppressed people of our community. Established on the occasion of Reed's centennial with a gift from Dan Greenberg '62 and his wife and philanthropic partner Susan Steinhauser, the Greenberg Distinguished Scholar Program aims to bring visiting scholars to campus to support the work of students and provide faculty with the opportunity for in-depth intellectual exchange with a prominent member in their field.