The American Studies Institute at Seoul National University is pleased to announce the following invited lecture:

June 21 (Wed) at 2pm
Building 14, Room 203

Robin McDowell
African and African American Studies
Washington University in St. Louis
https://www.robinmcdowell.com/about

Plant, Prison, Port, and Pigment:
Histories of Environmental Racism in Louisiana

Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” is a corridor along the Mississippi River lined with oil refineries and plastic manufacturing plants on the sites of former 19th century sugar plantations. Shocking images of toxic smokestacks rising over sugarcane fields and towns founded by descendants of enslaved African and African American people have come to symbolize the concept of “environmental racism" in its most extreme form. This presentation travels through racial, economic, and ecological layers of a southeast Louisiana town over the course of millennia. Using archives, oral histories, earth sciences, and mixed media artmaking, “Plant, Prison, Port, and Pigment” tells a deep history of ties between African American communities and the environment and introduces new possibilities for environmental justice.

The lecture and subsequent discussion will be conducted in English.

For questions and further information, please contact: sungyupkim@snu.ac.kr