Thursday, November 9

9:15AM  |  ACADEMIC BUILDING, 1170
Welcoming Remarks - Barbara Lee, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Opening of the Multilingual Political Poetry Exhibition

9:45AM–11:15AM  |  ACADEMIC BUILDING, FLOORS 4, 5, 6
Viewing of the Exhibition & Film(s), Multicultural Breakfasts
Student-curated political poetry in many languages from different times and cultures
Project directed by Mary Shaw (Department of French) and Atif Akin (Department of Visual Arts)
Student-created films, directed by Danielle Lessovitz (Head, Rutgers Film Lab)

I. Africa(s)

11:30AM-1:00PM  |  ACADEMIC BUILDING, 1170
POETRY AS POLITICAL ACTION (READINGS AND CONVERSATION)
Sinzo Aanza (writer & artist, DR Congo): “Donner corps à la poésie ou ne pas en faire du tout”
Claude Mouchard (Université Paris 8; poet): “«L’Afrique là-bas» et l’Afrique ici”
Moderator: François Cornilliat (Department of French)

2:00PM–3:30PM  |  ACADEMIC BUILDING, 1170
THREE VOICES (POETRY READINGS)
Gabriel Bamgbose (Rutgers University; poet, Nigeria): “If your lips could part”
Yvette Christiansë (Barnard College; poet, South Africa): readings from new work
Jhonel (Hamani Kassoum) (poet & slam artist, Niger): readings from Cour commune
Moderator: Stéphane Robolin (Center for African Studies; Department of English)

3:45PM–5:00PM  |  ACADEMIC BUILDING, 1170
TWO VOICES (READINGS AND CONVERSATION)
Michel Agier (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales): “Africa in a Brutal World”
Claude Mouchard (Université Paris 8): “Avec Agier, avec Khaled”
Moderator: Renée Larrier (Department of French)

5:15PM–6:45PM  |  ACADEMIC BUILDING, 1170
ON AFRICAN MUSIC AND POETRY
Marceline Saibou (Bowdoin College): “From Propaganda to Silence: Popular Music, Lyrics, and Politics Under the Eyadéma Regime”
Koffi Anyinéfa (Haverford College): “Voicing Dissent: Socio-Political Engagement in Jean-Jacques S. Dabla’s Poetry”
Adeline Masquelier (Tulane University): “‘Times are hard’: Urban Dispossession, Hip Hop, and the Power of Words”
Moderator: Ousseina Alidou (AMESALL)

Friday, November 10

9:30AM–11:15PM  |  ACADEMIC BUILDING, FLOORS 4, 5, 6
Viewing of the Exhibition & Film(s), Multicultural Breakfasts

II. Migrations

11:30AM–1:00PM  |  ACADEMIC BUILDING, 1170
PALABRAS Y POLÍTICAS (POETRY READINGS AND CONVERSATION)
Rigoberto González (Rutgers University–Newark; poet, United States)
Amy Sara Carroll (University of Michigan; poet, United States)
Moderator: Camilla Stevens (Department of Spanish and Portuguese)

2:15PM–3:30PM  |  ZIMMERLI ART MUSEUM, LOWER DODGE GALLERY
THREE VOICES (POETRY READINGS)
Firas Sulaiman (poet, Syria): “Outside of Waiting,” read in Arabic by the author, and in English
by Samantha Kostmayer Sulaiman, translator
Lamea Abbas Amara (poet, Iraq): “Frouzanda Mahrad,” read in Arabic and English (Mike Maggio, translator)
by Charles Häberl (AMESALL)
Nizar Qabbani (poet, Syria): “The Cock,” read in Arabic and English
by Charles Häberl (AMESALL), translator
Moderator: Samah Selim (AMESALL)

3:45PM–5:15PM  |  ZIMMERLI ART MUSEUM, LOWER DODGE GALLERY
WRITING AND DISPLACEMENT
Rainer J. Hanshe (writer, translator; editor, Contra Mundum Press): “The Ecstasy of Displacement: la bibliothèque est en feu”
Paul G. Schalow (Rutgers University–New Brunswick): “Writing Against the Atomic Bomb: Interrogating the Place in Displacement”
Amy Sara Carroll (University of Michigan): “‘Will you share the labor, share the work?’: Border Artivisms and the Transborder Immigrant Tool”
Moderator: Richard Serrano (Departments of French and Comparative Literature)

  RECEPTION WILL FOLLOW

6:00PM– 8:00PM  |  VOORHEES HALL, 105
MULTILINGUAL POLITICAL POETRY SLAM
Verbal Mayhem (Rutgers student performers); Gabrielle Roldan, organizer
Jhonel (Hamani Kassoum); Rebel Diaz; MC: Gabriel Bamgbose