Important Dates

On 12 and 13 December 2024, a conference organised by Prof. Dr. Susan Arndt (University of Bayreuth) and Dr. Tim Sommer (LMU Munich) will take place on the topic ‘Black Diasporic Knowledges before 1800: Writing Subjects, Intersectional Interventions’. It is a joint event of the Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bayreuth ‘Africa Multiple’ and the Doctoral Programme for Intersectionality Studies.

• Date/Time/Location: 12 and 13 December 2024,
• Venue: Iwalewahaus, Wölfelstraße 2, corner Münzgasse, 95444 Bayreuth.
• Language of the event: English.
• Admission is free, registration is not required.

The conference deals with the question of how Black people and their knowledge have shaped European societies, knowledge and resistance against racism. The conference will focus on Anton Wilhelm Amo (philosopher), Olaudah Equiano (author of an autobiography about his experiences with the slave trade) and Phillis Wheately (poet) as well as concepts of abolitionist resistance. 

As part of the event, the renowned literary scholar Ottmar Ette will read from his latest novel about Anton Wilhelm Amo. The keynote speech will be given by Shankar Raman from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). There will also be a performance of Shakespeare's Black Voices, a concert with piano, double bass and saz as well as a spoken word performance.

A special highlight will be a concert by the Aras Hesso Trio (piano, double bass and saz) and a reading by Ottmar Ette from his novel ‘Mein Name sei Amo’. Ottmar Ette is a German Romance philologist, literary scholar and writer. He has held the Chair of Romance Literature at the University of Potsdam since 1995. 

Please click to see the full programme