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On Thursday, March 17, The University of Tampa’s Department of English and Writing will host the Spring 2022 Scholars’ Symposium, featuring Dennis Tyler Jr. The event will begin at 4 p.m. in the Charlene A. Gordon Theater in the Ferman Center for the Arts on campus.

Tyler is an associate professor of English at Fordham University. An expert in African American literature, disability studies, and critical theory and race studies, he is the author of Disabilities of the Color Line (NYU Press, 2022). His essays and reviews have been published in African American Review, Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies, Gender: Space, The Feminist Wire, Oxford Bibliographies and American Literary History Online Review.

This talk, “The Contours of the Color Line,” will examine the color line as a disabling phenomenon that began in the era of slavery and extends to the age of color blindness, an age that captures the ongoing violence of anti-Black vigilantism, police brutality and the health disparities of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the talk will be a book signing with Tyler.

The Scholars’ Symposia was created to introduce the UT community to vibrant researchers and writers from all over the nation. It is a biannual event that features good food, great conversation, book signings and Q&A sessions with the scholar. The program welcomes anyone who would like to share their scholarship. The next symposium will take place in Fall 2022.