Simmons to Deliver Lecture for Brown's Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice Opening

Simmons to Deliver Lecture for Brown's Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice Opening

Brown University President Emerita Ruth J. Simmons will deliver a lecture for the opening of the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice (CSSJ) on October 24.

The lecture is titled, “Confronting Historic Wrongs: A University’s Dilemma, and ill take place at 4 p.m. in the Salomon Center for Teaching, De Ciccio Family Auditorium.

President Christina Paxson and B. Anthony Bogues, the Lyn Crost Professor of Social Sciences and Critical Theory and inaugural director of the center, will offer brief remarks and introductions.

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In 2003, Simmons appointed a Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice to explore Brown’s historical relationship to slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. One major recommendation in that committee’s final report was the establishment of an academic center dedicated to studies of slavery and justice. The Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice was formally established during the 2012-13 academic year, and B. Anthony Bogues, the Lyn Crost Professor of Social Sciences and Critical Theory, was named its inaugural director.

Following the lecture, a reception and dedication will take place at 94 Waterman St., the center’s new home. The 19th century home, renovated to house the center, includes an exhibition gallery and an adapted replica of a slave garden.

The dedication also marks the opening of a new exhibition at the Center, “Black Experiences at Brown: A Visual Narrative,” which is part of Brown’s 250th anniversary celebration. It is an interactive exhibition that chronicles the history of African Americans at Brown.

The center will also host an open house on October 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.