Reading "Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments" by Saidiya Hartman

Xavier University of Louisiana, Southern University at New Orleans, and Dillard University are joining forces to host a series of reading groups focused on the works of acclaimed scholar Saidiya Hartman. This collaborative initiative, which also involves the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, 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.

Discussion led by Robin Vander, Ph.D., Associate Professor of English and African American and Diaspora Studies, Director of Women's Studies, Director of Performance Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana

Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments explores the lives of young Black women in the early 20th century who defied societal norms and created new ways of living and loving. By choosing this book for Xavier University, the reading group will delve into the complexities of gender, race, and sexuality during a transformative period in American history. This work encourages readers to consider how these women’s experiences resonate with contemporary issues of autonomy, resistance, and the pursuit of freedom within Black communities. Xavier, with its strong commitment to social justice, will find this work particularly relevant as it aligns with the university's mission to create leaders who work for a just and humane society.

Remaining Reading Group Meetings:

· Southern University at New Orleans: Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008 Friday, November 15th, from 4-6pm in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Science (AHSS) Building room 111.

[Prior to the meeting Erika Witt, Director and Curator of the Southern University in New Orleans Museum of Art will lead a tour of the African Art Collection. 2pm]

· Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities: Scenes of Subjection: Terror, Slavery, and Self-Making in Nineteenth-Century America. W. W. Norton & Company, 1999/2022. The group will meet on Friday, January 24, 2025 from 6-8pm at the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities 938 Lafayette St # 300, New Orleans, LA 70113.

· Dillard University: Venus in Two Acts, Small Axe, 12, no. 2 (2008): 1-14. The group will meet on Wednesday, February 19th, 6:00 p.m. Professional Schools Building, Room 135.

Host or Publisher New Orleans HBCU Reading Group