2018 Octavia E. Butler Conference: Uniting the Academy and the Community
Sponsored by:
The Octavia E. Butler Literary Society, The Spelman College Office of the Provost, The Spelman College Division of Arts and the Geffen Artist-in-Residence Program, The Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, The UNCF/Mellon Programs, The Spelman College Ethel W. Githii Honors Program
Contact: Tarshia L Stanley, tstanley@spelman.edu Or oebliterarysociety@gmail.com, 404.270.5664
Special Guests:
Tananarive Due Novelist, Journalist, Afrofuturist, NAACP Image Award, American Book Award
Toshi Reagon Singer, Songwriter, Musician,
Photo Credit: Erica Beckman
The Conseula Francis Ph.D. Memorial Opening Session/Dinner
Friday, February 23rd at 7pm (This event is sold out. No tickets sold at door.)
Special Guest Speaker Tananarive Due (BDT Suites Private Dining Room)
ON-SITE REGISTRATION OPENS At 9:00am
Please scroll to bottom of page for Registration pricing and details.
Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby Academic Center
Lower Level 28
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Saturday, February 24
Session 1 A 9:30am-10:45am
(Camille Cosby ACADEMIC CENTER LOWER LEVEL 31)
Butler and Philosophy
Matt Mullins–Chair
“Postcritical Butler” Matt Mullins– Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
“Thinking Beyond the Box: Octavia Butler and Hindu Philosophy” Aparajita Nanda–University of California, Berkeley
“Octavia E. Butler’s Failed Utopias” Joshua Burnett–Arkansas State University, Queretaro, Mexico.
Session 1 B 9:30am-10:45am
(Camille Cosby ACADEMIC CENTER LOWER LEVEL 32)
What Do You Think You Can Show Me?” Shifting Science Fiction to Denote the Black Feminist Experience in Octavia Butler’s Literature
Ryan Scott Heath–Chair
Jay Shelat–University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Shari Arnold–Georgia State University
Ebony Gibson–Georgia State University
Brittany Stewart–Georgia State University
Andy Reid–Morgan State University
Session 2 A 11:00am-12:15pm
(Camille Cosby ACADEMIC CENTER LOWER LEVEL 32)
Rethinking Butler
Bevin Roue–Chair
“Teaching Butler’s Parable of the Talents in the Age of Trump” Jonathan Lewis–Troy University
“Remapping Octavia Butler” Shelby Crosby–University of Memphis
“Inevitable Hell?: Utopia and Race Octavia E. Butler’s “The Book of Martha” and George S. Schuyler’s Black No More” Tarshia Stanley–Spelman College
Session 2 B 11:00am-12:15pm
(Camille Cosby ACADEMIC CENTER LOWER LEVEL 31)
Butler and the Body
Jay Shelat–Chair
“Anatomy and Archive: Remembering with Memory in Butler’s Fledgling” Gabriella Friedman–Cornell University
“Mother Knows Best” Jonathan Gregory Tyler–Columbia State Community College
LUNCH – 12:30pm-1:50pm
(Conference Presenters Only)
Manley Center Atrium
Session 3 A 2:00pm-3:15pm
(Camille Cosby ACADEMIC CENTER LOWER LEVEL 31)
Empathy in Butler
Aparajita Nanda–Chair
“Re-Reading Race and Disability in Octavia Butler’s Imago” Karina Vado–University of Florida
“Hyperempathy for a Hyperspace: (Dis)ability and Interdependent Consciousness in Octavia Butler’s Parable Series” Doug Stark –University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
“All We Need: The Driving Force of Human Interaction in Butler’s Work” Davina G. Ward–SUNY, Genesco
Session 3 B 2:00pm-3:15pm
(Camille Cosby ACADEMIC CENTER LOWER LEVEL 31)
Butler, History, Disability
Jonathan P. Lewis–Chair
“The Nation that was Built on a Black Woman’s Back: Religion and Survival in Octavia Butler’s Parable Series” Briana Whiteside–University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa
“Abelism in the Xenogenesis Series” Laney Jolley–Columbia State Community College
“Unassuming Heroines: Exploring Violent Journeys in Wild Seed and A Mercy” Ashley Tisdale–Florida A&M University
Session 4 3:30-5pm
(Camille Cosby ACADEMIC CENTER LOWER LEVEL 32)
Roundtable: Approaches to Teaching Octavia E. Butler in the Academy
Tarshia Stanley–Chair
Edmond Y. Chang–Ohio University
Bevin Roue–Auburn University
Claire Curtis–College of Charleston
Aparajita Nanda–University of California, Berkeley
Shreyashi Mukherjee–Assam University, Diphu, India
Beth McCoy–SUNY, Genesco
Special Performance
Saturday, February 24th, 7pm
Camille Oliva Hanks Cosby Ed.D. Academic Center Auditorium
Spelman College Geffen Artist-in-Residence Concert
Toshi Reagon
Spelman College, Division of the Arts Geffen Artist-in Residence Program
The concert segment of the conference is free and open to the public. Please click on the link to RSVP
Toshi Reagon Celebrates Octavia E. Butler
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 25
REGISTRATION OPENS AT 9:00am
Camille Cosby Academic Center
3rd Floor, Room 328
OEB Society Business Meeting 9:30am-10:30am
(COSBY ACADEMIC CENTER LOWER LEVEL 329)
Session 1A 10:30am-11:45am
(COSBY ACADEMIC CENTER LOWER LEVEL 31)
New Considerations of Octavia E. Butler: Body, Spirit and Text
Claire Curtis–Chair
Sheila Smith McKoy–Kennesaw State University
Griselda Thomas–Kennesaw State University
Tamera Powell–Kennesaw State University
Session 1 B 10:30am-11:45am
(COSBY ACADEMIC CENTER LOWER LEVEL 32)
Butler Past and Future
Lynette Parker–Chair
“Time Travel Narratives, Activist Histories, and Sustainable Community Partnerships” Kathleen T. Leuschen–Emory University
“Engaging Octavia Butler and Afrofuturism: Tools for Teachers in the Era of Black Lives Matter” Lynette Parker–Research Institute for School Leadership
“If you don’t take this chance, I don’t think you’ll be able to leave me.”: Teaching Fledgling and College Bonds” Beth McCoy–SUNY Genesco
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Conference Registration
All presenters must register for conference.
Professional $50
Graduate Student $35
C0mmunity $35
Retired $25
Spelman Student/Faculty/Staff Registration is Free except for the Friday dinner and Saturday luncheon. These are ticketed events.
Please send an email to oebliterarysociety@gmail.com to indicate which events you want to attend and get your name on the list.
The Toshi Reagon concert is free and open to the public. Please click on the link to RSVP: Toshi Reagon Celebrates Octavia E. Butler
Hotel Information
Please click on the Hotel name to receive the conference rate: $169 per night
Embassy Suites by Hilton, Atlanta at Centennial Olympic Park
267 Marietta Street, Atlanta, GA. 30313
Direct: 678 686 0760 | Main: 404 223 2300 I Fax: 678.686.0725
