Skip to main content
Photo of an audience listening intently

Introduction

In September 2019, the Folger Institute and the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies co-sponsored an extraordinary gathering at the Folger Shakespeare Library to explore the history of the ways we understand “race”—in all of its meanings. The focus of the “Race and Periodization” symposium was the relationship between race and historical periods; it is part of the #RaceB4Race initiative, which launched in January 2019 at Arizona State University.

The event started with remarks by Michael Witmore, director of the Folger Shakespeare Library, and Ayanna Thompson, director of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Arizona State University, followed by a pair of opening lectures by Geraldine Heng, Perceval Professor at the University of Texas at Austin and founder and director of the Global Middle Ages Project, and Margo Hendricks, professor emerita at UC Santa Cruz.

Photo of speakers
Ayanna Thompson, Geraldine Heng, and Margo Hendricks. Photo by Lloyd Wolf
A woman speaking to a group of people in the Folger reading room
Race and Periodization symposium. Photo by Lloyd Wolf

About the Symposium

Medievalists and early modernists have long grappled with the meaning and use of their own historical period designations and the nature of periodization. This symposium explored how critical race theory can enable new insights about, approaches to, and critiques of periodization. Critical race theory, situated in both historical and contemporary disciplines, necessarily challenges assumptions about historical knowledge, theoretical borders, and scholarly dissemination and impact. It thus offers the exciting potential to revolutionize academic periodization in medieval and early modern studies.

In addition to the opening speakers, the conference included other scholars of history, literature, and other disciplines. Speakers who led individual sessions included Dennis Britton (University of New Hampshire), Ruben Espinosa, (University of Texas at El Paso), Michael Gomez (New York University), Wan-Chuan Kao (Washington & Lee University), Carol Mejia LaPerle (Wright State University), Su Fang Ng (Virginia Tech), Mary Rambaran-Olm (Independent Scholar), and Michelle M. Sauer (University of North Dakota).

Listen to the Welcoming Remarks and Introductions

Ayanna Thompson and Michael Witmore

Ayanna Thompson
Photo of Ayanna Thompson

Ayanna Thompson

Michael Witmore

Michael Witmore

Read the transcript

Listen to the opening lectures

Geraldine Heng, “Defining Race, Periodizing Race”

Geraldine Heng
Photo of Geraldine Heng

Geraldine Heng

Read the transcript

Margo Hendricks, “Coloring the Past, Rewriting Our Future: RaceB4Race”

Margo Hendricks
Photo of Margo Hendricks

Margo Hendricks

Read the transcript