The inaugural Conseula Francis Emerging Scholar Lecture of the academic year will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019, at 6 p.m. in Addlestone Library room 227.
This event – and the entire series of lectures – honors the late professor Conseula Francis. Francis, who taught English at the College from 2002 until 2016, and served as associate provost for curriculum and institutional resources, passed away in 2016.
The guest speaker for Tuesday’s lecture is Alexis Wells-Ogoghomeh, an assistant professor of religious studies at Vanderbilt University. She will present a talk titled “The Issues of Females: Abortion, Infanticide and Ethics in Southern Slavery.”
Wells-Oghoghomeh’s topic sits at the intersection of African American studies, religious studies and women’s and gender studies, and examines these various facets of life within the historical context of slavery.
“Dr. Wells-Oghoghomeh’s research will underscore the significant, engendered difference between the experience of men and that of women during the era of enslavement,” says Kameelah Martin, director of the College’s African American Studies Program. “That is not to say one is more relevant than the other. It’s all horrific, but this lecture promises to call more attention to the ways Christians (in name only) regarded the ‘fairer sex’ and how enslaved women claimed ownership over their bodies despite the status of being chattel property.”
The lecture is free and open to the public.
