In keeping with Black History Month, UNCG’s faculty and staff will present their expertise in connection to Black history, particularly during the 35th annual Conference on African American and African Diasporic Cultures and Experiences (CACE), hosted by African American and African Diaspora Studies.
Here’s where UNCG experts will be speaking this month:
CACE 2025
The 35th annual CACE Conference will be held February 17-20 in the EUC Auditorium. This year’s theme is “Global Ecologies: Growing the World We Want.” Academic conference papers, nontraditional presentations, artist exhibits and performances address the many aspects of global ecology, including arts, humanities, and stem-related imaginings of global networks, experiences, and futures. Presentations, roundtables, and readings discuss established and emergent experiences pertaining to belief, understanding, and activism in African American, African, and African Diasporic Communities.
Read more in the program here.
UNCG speakers
Tapping In: Partnerships to Advance Black Arts in the Community
11 a.m.
Juanita Thacker, Information Literacy Librarian, University Libraries
Josephus Thompson III, African American and African Diaspora Studies Artist-in-Residence
The Liveliness of Public History
1 p.m.
Dr. Torren Gatson, Assistant Professor and Co-Director of the Graduate Program in Museum Studies
The Fabric of Our Lives: Visual and Tactile Representations of Slavery Through Cloth Blackbird: The Process, Making, and Meaning Behind the Quilt
2 p.m.
Dr. Rhonda Jones, Public Historian and Digital Archivist, University Libraries
Roundtable: The Past, Present, and Future of DEI in Higher Education
3 p.m.
Calvin Lowery, Assistant Director, Health and Human Sciences Graduate/Undergraduate Programs
Keynote Presentation: Scholasticide
4 p.m.
Dr. Deborah Barnes, Adjunct Professor, African American and African Diaspora Studies
Cultural Exchange on a Plate: An African’s Reflection on Navigating Eating Habits in U.S. Culture
9 a.m.
Dr. Plaxedes T. Chitiyo, Associate Director of the Environment and Sustainability Program
Keynote Roundtable: The State of Higher Education
10 a.m.
Dr. Deborah Barnes, Adjunct Professor, African American and African Diaspora Studies
Dr. Shelly Brown-Jeffy, Associate Professor of Sociology
Authenticity in Action: Professionalism Through the Lens of Black Women
11 a.m.
Dr. Cerise L. Glenn, Professor of Sociology and Communication Studies
Poetry Cafe
7 p.m.
Josephus Thompson III, African American and African Diaspora Studies Artist-in-Residence
African Americans and Media Arts: Beats, Rhymes, Life
11 a.m.
Hassan Pitts, Lecturer and Department Technology Coordinator of Media Studies
Black Film Post-Obama: Genre, Politics, and World Making
2 p.m.
Dr. D. Noble, Adjunct Professor, African American and African Diaspora Studies
Playback Workshop with Historic Princeville Practitioners
9 a.m.
Dr. Lalenja Harrington, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations, School of Education
Dr. Marcia Hale, Assistant Professor, Director of Graduate Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies
Pitch for the Planet: UNCG Green Fund Student Spotlight
5:30 p.m.
Dr. Plaxedes T. Chitiyo, Associate Director of the Environment and Sustainability Program
Sean MacInnes, Sustainability Specialist, Office of Sustainability
More From UNCG
Organ Recital
February 6, 5:30 – 7 p.m.
Organ Hall
Dr. Marya Fancey, Lecturer of Organ, presents “Kaleidoscope,” a program exploring color and variation in organ repertoire spanning 450 years.
Faculty Composers Concert
February 6, 7:30 – 9 p.m.
Tew Recital Hall
Music by Michael Burns, Mark Engebretson, Billie Feather, Steve Landis, Alejandro Rutty and Hank Smith.
Symphonic Band
February 18, 7:30 – 9 p.m.
UNCG Auditorium
The UNCG Symphonic Band – featuring Jonathan Caldwell, Steven Susek, and Graduate Conductor Patty Saunders – presents a program of works by Sally Lamb McCune, Gala Flagello, Charles Rochester Young, and Vincent Persichetti.
Linda A. Carlisle Lecture: A Queer Theory of Spectatorship: Viewing Socialist-Era Cinema Aslant
February 19, Noon – 1 p.m.
Curry 231 (McDonald room)
Join Dr. Faye Stewart, this year’s Linda A. Carlisle Faculty Grant recipient, for a talk on A Queer Theory of Spectatorship: Viewing Socialist-Era Cinema Aslant. Enjoy refreshments and an engaging discussion—open to all! Hosted by WGSS.
Symphony Orchestra
February 19, 7:30 – 9 p.m.
UNCG Auditorium
Dr. Steven Stusek, Professor of Music, joins the Symphony Orchestra for a performance of Debussy’s evocative “Rhapsodie for saxophone and orchestra.” The orchestra will also perform an exciting program bookended by Leonard Bernstein’s dazzling Overture to “Candide” and Stravinsky’s monumental suite from “The Firebird.”
Great Conversation: What’s in it for Me? Morality and Self-Interest
February 20, 5 – 6:30 p.m.
Foust 206
Is it in a person’s self-interest to behave morally? Or is it in our best interest to be open to behaving immorally when the opportunity arises? Dr. Heather Gert, Associate Professor and Department Head of Philosophy, will lead an open public discussion as students and faculty explore these and related questions. This is a great opportunity to share your thoughts and gain new insights—be part of the conversation! Free and open to the public.
Black Liberation Across World History
February 21, 4 – 6 p.m
International Civil Rights Center & Museum
Be part of an enlightening discussion with Dr. Omar Ali, Dean of the Lloyd International Honors College, about the history of African American political leadership in the context of a global struggle for freedom. Explore the lives and legacies of influential leaders such as Kandake Amanirenas, Queen Nzinga, and Nanny of the Maroons, who paved the way for iconic figures like Ella Baker, Malcolm X, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This event will illuminate the diverse strategies and methods employed by Black leaders from Africa, South Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America in their fight for justice and equality.
Recontextualizing American Art Song: Artist Faculty Recital
February 21, 7:30 – 9 p.m.
Tew Recital Hall
This recital centers around an important reminder that America consists of far more than just the contiguous United States. You will hear music that embodies the familiar “Americana” style alongside works reflecting the landscapes and cultural narratives of Puerto Rico, the Muskogee (Creek) Nation, Harlem, and more. Featuring, from the School of Music, Janinah Burnett, Lindsay Kesselman, Carole Ott, Robert Bracey, Eric Laine, Robert Wells, with James Douglass and Ināra Zandmane on piano.