Our keynote speaker is Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, Professor of African & African-American Studies and Director of the Center for Arts, Digital Culture & Entrepreneurship at Duke University.

Possible paper topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Afrofuturism, Authenticity, Childhood, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, Folklore, Disability Studies, Diaspora Studies, Drama, Hip Hop Studies, Intertextuality, Film/Television Studies, Literary Canon, Memory, Protest, Pop Culture, and Urban Literature

Graduate and creative submissions are welcomed.

Email a 300-word abstract and brief cv to Co-Chair Dr. Wendy Rountree, North Carolina Central University, wrountree@nccu.edu and Co-Chair Dr. William Robinson, North Carolina Central University, wrobin15@nccu.edu by July 31, 2015.

Participants whose papers are selected will be contacted in late August. Complete presentation papers should be sent to Dr. Rountree and Dr. Robinson by Friday, October 30, 2015. Additionally, accepted papers will be considered for inclusion in an essay collection edited by the symposium co-chairs.