Joseph Anténor Firmin (1850-1911): The Equality of the Human Races
International Symposium
Friday, May 13, 2011
University of Chicago
Quadrangle Club (1155 E. 57th Street) Second Floor Library.
9:20-9:30: Opening remarks
Frederick de Armas, Department of Romance Languages, University of Chicago
Daniel Desormeaux, Department of Romance Languages, University of Chicago
9:30-11:00
Race and Geopolitics in Anténor Firmin's Work
Asselin Charles, Mount Olive College
Equality as Fact and Value in Firmin's Positive Anthropology
Greg Beckett, University of Chicago
Firmin and Haiti's Challenge to Social Thought in Latin America
Silvio A. Torres-Saillant, Syracuse University
11:15-12:15
Legacy and debate around Anténor Firmin and Cheikh Anta Diop
Amzat Boukari-Yabara, EHESS (France)
Not Exactly Positivism: Firmin's Critique of Transcendental Idealism in His Philosophy of Race and Culture
Lewis Gordon, Temple University
12:15-1:00: Discussion
1:00-2:00: Lunch
2:00-4:00
Césaire and Firmin
Keith Louis Walker, Dartmouth College
Firmin, de Vastey et les autres: Des textes fondateurs de l'anticolonialisme
Jean Jonassaint, Syracuse University
From Literature of Defense to Anthropological Authoring:
Anténor Firmin and Haitian Social Thought in the Nineteenth Century
Gerarde Magloire-Danton, Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile (Toulouse, France)
Anténor Firmin: The Literary Factor
Daniel Desormeaux, University of Chicago
4:00-5:00: Discussion
5:00-6:00: Wine and cheese reception