Denison University’s McGregor Connections Initiative is sponsoring a mini-series of three lectures that will examine aspects of “The Global City.” All of the lectures will be at 4:30 p.m. in the Slayter Hall Auditorium (200 Ridge Road).

The lead-off speaker on Monday, April 13, is Saskia Sassen, the Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University, whose topic is “Neither Global Nor Local: The World’s Third Spaces.” This lecture is co-sponsored by the Laura C. Harris Fund and the Women’s Studies Program.

The second speaker in the series is AbdouMaliq Simone, a professor of sociology at Goldsmiths College, University of London, who will address “Movement at the Crossroads: Urbanization from Jakarta to Dakar” on Wednesday, April 15.

The final presenter, Andrea Frohne, is assistant professor of African art history in Ohio University’s School of Art and School of Interdisciplinary Arts. Her work focuses on the African Diaspora, studies of space, and the politics of art. On Thursday, April 16, she will speak on “Mapping Memory Through Urban Politics in New York City: The African Burial Ground.” Both the Simone and Frohne lectures are co-sponsored by the Black Studies Program, in celebration of its 40 years at Denison.

The author of three major books, Sassen’s most recent is “Territory, Authority, Rights: From Medieval to Global Assemblages” (Princeton University Press, 2006) in which she examines foundational transformations taking place today. The world is seeing the formation of multiple often highly specialized assemblages of bits of territory, authority and rights that were once ensconced in national framings. Today, these assemblages traverse global and national settings, thereby denationalizing what was historically constructed as national.

Simone’s academic interests include urbanism, critical geography, sociologies of religion, social organizations, development processes, African politics and popular urban cultures. He is the senior program associate at the Institute for Cultural Enterprise in New York and has worked with the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa and the U.N. Centre for Human Settlements. A contributor to numerous journals and books, he is the author of “For the City Yet to Come: Changing Urban Life in Four African Cities.”

Frohne will discuss the historical, political and sociological significance of a site that was uncovered in the early 1990s when construction began on a building in lower Manhattan. A short walk from the former World Trade Center location, the 17th century cemetery is estimated to be the burial site of 10,000 to 20,000 slaves, 45 to 50 percent of them children younger than 12. Today the African Burial Ground National Monument is operated by the National Park Service.

The McGregor Connections Initiative at Denison University connects students with renowned scholars and activists, highlights intersections between academic disciplines and fosters academic achievement.

Calendar Listing:

CALENDAR LISTING, Denison University, Granville—Saskia Sassen, “Neither Global Nor Local: The World’s Third Spaces,” at 4:30 p.m., Monday, April 13, in Slayter Hall Auditorium (200 Ridge Road). Free and open to the public. For information, contact 740-587-6206.

CALENDAR LISTING, Denison University, Granville—AbdouMaliq Simone, “Movement at the Crossroads: Urbanization from Jakarta to Dakar,” at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 15, in Slayter Hall Auditorium (200 Ridge Road). Free and open to the public. For information, contact 740-587-6206.

CALENDAR LISTING, Denison University, Granville—Andrea Frohne, “Mapping Memory Through Urban Politics in New York City: The African Burial Ground,” at 4:30 p.m., Thursday, April 16, in Slayter Hall Auditorium (200 Ridge Road). Free and open to the public. For information, contact 740-587-6206.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

Name

Barbara Stambaugh

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Director, Media Relations

Primary Email

stambaughb@denison.edu

Business Phone

(740) 587-8575