We invite you to attend “Obama Phenomena: Facets of a Historic Campaign,” a one-day symposium at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law on Friday, August 29, 2008, the day after the Democratic National Convention. Randall Kennedy, the Michael R. Klein Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, will deliver the Luncheon Keynote Address.
Barack Obama and his campaign would be worthy of study if he were merely the first African American major-party presidential nominee. Yet Obama is more than a history-making candidate; he and his campaign are a cultural phenomenon on many levels. This conference brings together a diverse, inter-generational group of scholars who will examine the meaning of Obama’s candidacy on aspects ranging from race, gender, religion and difference in contemporary politics, to the changing nature of campaign organizing, to Obama’s potential impact on affirmative action law, election law, and U.S. foreign policy.
The following scholars are participating as panelists/moderators at this exciting conference during a truly historic time: Raquel Aldana (UNLV), Keith Aoki (UC-Davis), Rachel Arnow-Richman (Denver), Monica Bell (Yale ’09), Jane Caputi (Florida Atlantic, Women’s Studies and Communications), Robert Chang, (Seattle), Guy-Uriel Charles (Minnesota), Jeffrey Chemerinsky (Duke ’09), Delmarie Cobb (The Publicity Works), Charlton Copeland (Miami), Roberto Corrada (Denver), Nancy Ehrenreich (Denver), Robert Hardaway (Denver), Craig Jackson (Texas Southern), Keynote Speaker, Randall Kennedy (Harvard), Jacqueline Lipton (Case Western), Scott Moss (Colorado), Camille Nelson (St. Louis), Reggie Oh (Cleveland State), Ann O’Leary (Berkeley Center on Health, Economic & Family Security), Angela Onwuachi-Willig (Iowa), Jeffrey Pokorak (Suffolk), john a. powell (Ohio State), Nancy Reichman (Denver, Sociology), Susan Schulten (Denver, History), and Verna Williams (Cincinnati).
Essays from the symposium will be published in a special issue of the Denver University Law Review. For additional information, please visit this link or contact Frank Rudy Cooper at fcooper@suffolk.edu and 617-573-8530 or Catherine Smith at csmith@law.du.edu and 303-871-6180.
NB from Ann: Can’t resist adding that the above referenced Prof. Catherine Smith is a fabulous and brilliant graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law!
