Katrina@10
October 6, 2015鈥擳his month, Georgetown鈥檚 will host Katrina@10, a national symposium that will examine the impacts of Hurricane Katrina and the flooding of New Orleans on memory, culture, history, media, policy, and social justice.
The two-day symposium will include panel discussions, a film screening, and a musical performance. 鈥淜atrina was experienced as a media event marked by a surplus of images and a paucity of experience. Ten years later, Katrina presents a problem for memory and for understanding,鈥� , director of the Film and Media Studies Program, said. 鈥淚f Katrina is to be understood, we must interrogate the production of our own collective memories.鈥�
Georgetown faculty will lead discussions on media and memory, cultural history, and justice and activism. Dr. , director of the , will bring together a panel of activists and journalists to discuss 鈥渘ot only what has gone wrong, but also what people have been doing about it鈥攊n New Orleans and elsewhere,鈥� Amster said. 鈥淭he storm exposed some of the deep-seated structural issues鈥攊n particular, around race and inequality鈥攖hat remain largely unaddressed in society, setting a tone for subsequent mobilizations that have emerged in recent years.鈥�
Associate Professor of will host a panel on the cultural history of New Orleans, a city he notes that was 鈥渄renched in history鈥� before Hurricane Katrina. 鈥淜atrina threatened to wash away the city鈥檚 history. Yet New Orleans鈥檚 historic culture鈥攁nd its culture of history鈥攈as proven tenacious and vital to the city鈥檚 recovery, incomplete as that recovery has been,鈥� Rothman explained. 鈥淗istory remains as contested as ever; it is a cultural battlefront for rival conceptions of the city.鈥�
The symposium will be held on October 22鈥�23, 2015. Katrina@10 was made possible by a Reflective Engagement Grant from Georgetown University.
Schedule of Events
Thursday, October 22, 2015
- 6鈥�8:30 p.m.: Film screening of (2008), directed and produced by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal. After the screening, Lessin will discuss the film鈥檚 production and reception with Dr. Bernie Cook, associate dean and director of the Film and Media Studies Program.
- 8:30鈥�9:30 p.m.: Opening Night Reception in Riggs Library, Healy Hall.
Friday, October 23, 2015
- 9:30鈥�11 a.m.: Dr. Bernie Cook will lead a panel discussion on media and memory with filmmakers Lolis Elie, Dawn Logsdon, Leo Chiang, and Luisa Dantas.
- 11:15鈥�12:45 p.m.: Associate Professor Adam Rothman will lead a panel discussion with Professor Kim Vaz, of Xavier University in New Orleans; Cherice Harrison-Nelson, educator and curator of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame; and Professor Lynnell Thomas, of the University of Massachusetts Boston.
- 1:15鈥�2:30 p.m.: Saxophonist and New Orleans native Donald Harrison Jr. will perform as part of the Music Program鈥檚 .
- 3鈥�4:30 p.m.: Dr. Randall Amster will lead a panel on justice and activism with Jordan Flaherty, community activist and journalist; Tamara Jackson, executive director of Silence is Violence; and Tracie Washington, president and CEO of the Louisiana Justice Institute.
Related Information
Visit the Katrina@10 website for more details on symposium events and to RSVP.