The celebrated poet, scholar and theorist Fred Moten will give this year’s Hayden V. White Distinguished Annual Lecture on Wednesday, April 9 at the Hay Barn on campus. The talk, which is free and open to the public, starts at 6 p.m.
In his talk, entitled “Theory And Practice of Contradiction,” Moten will explore key theoretical and historical issues through the lens of a phrase frequently used by the late Cedric Robinson, who was a professor in the Department of Black Studies and the Department of Political Science at UC Santa Barbara: "We must deepen or, alternatively, we must heighten the contradiction."
Moten will delve into the concept of contradiction, examining its meaning, the consequences of rejecting its resolution, and how to propel its transformation from mere speech into actionable practice.
The talk is being presented by The Humanities Division and The Humanities Institute. This talk is one of the signature events of THI’s 25th anniversary year.
Moten is a Professor in the Departments of Performance Studies and Comparative Literature at New York University, where he teaches courses in black study, poetics and critical theory. Moten studies the social practice of poetry/criticism. His most recent work, in collaboration with Brandon López, is Revision (TAO Forms Records, 2024).
His books of poetry and criticism include In the Break: The Aesthetics of the Black Radical Tradition (University of Minnesota Press, 2003); Hughson's Tavern (Leon Works, 2009); B. Jenkins (Duke University Press, 2010); The Feel Trio (Letter Machine Editions, 2014), a finalist for the National Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the winner of the California Book Award; The Little Edges, a finalist for the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award (Wesleyan University Press, 2015); The Service Porch (Letter Machine Editions, 2016); Black and Blur: consent not to be a single being (Duke University Press, 2017); All That Beauty (Letter Machine Editions, 2019); and Perennial Fashion Presence Falling (Wave Books, 2023).
The Hayden V. White Distinguished Annual Lecture Series is made possible by the support of the Thomas H. and Josephine Baird Memorial Fund, an endowment that supports yearly lectures relevant to historical and cultural theory, and to ensure that Hayden White’s legacy and intellectual spirit is honored and sustained. The lecture series commemorates White, a pioneering figure in historiography who served as a founding and much beloved professor in the Department of History of Consciousness, and rose to the rank of Presidential Professor of Historical Studies. Register here for this free event.
