Book Talk on Scenes of Subjection Facilitated by Dr. Patterson

About the Book Discussion:

Xavier University of Louisiana, Southern University at New Orleans, and Dillard University are joining forces to host a series of talks focused on the works of acclaimed scholar Saidiya Hartman. This collaborative initiative, which also includes The Helis Foundation John Scott Center, will engage students, faculty, and the public in discussions centered around Hartman’s influential books, leading up to her highly anticipated visit to New Orleans in spring 2025. The reading series, free and open to the public, explores Hartman’s seminal works.

About the Discussion Faciliator:

Casey Wayne Patterson is an Assistant Professor of English at Louisiana State University. His current book project, A Darker Form of Discipline: The Institutional Character of Black Literary Studies, focuses on the disciplinary convergence of Black Studies, feminism, and literary studies in the late 20th century U.S. academy, to theorize the role of language arts in formalizing protocols of knowledge production surrounding Black gendered difference.

About the Book:

Scenes of Subjection provides a rigorous analysis of the forms of violence and subjugation that shaped the lives of enslaved people in 19th-century America. Scenes offers a foundational understanding of the mechanisms of power and control that have shaped American society. By studying this text, participants will gain insights into the ways in which the legacy of slavery continues to influence contemporary social and political dynamics, particularly in Louisiana, where the history of slavery is deeply embedded in the cultural landscape.

Host or Publisher The Helis Foundation John Scott Center