The Walter Rodney Foundation implements programs that preserve, promote, and further the legacy of Walter Rodney.

The Walter Rodney Speakers Series

The Speakers Series is free and open to the public for the lectures.

The Walter Rodney Speakers Series (WRSS) is a lecture series based on the life and legacy of Dr. Walter Rodney, pan-Africanist historian and educator widely respected for his seminal text, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. It features a diversity of speakers discussing the life, work, and legacy of Dr. Rodney and Pan-African thought more generally, through interdisciplinary study and scholarship.

In collaboration with Atlanta area colleges and universities, undergraduate and graduate students throughout Atlanta can register for the course component and receive credit towards their degrees. The Speakers Series is free and open to the public for the Lecture.

The inaugural Walter Rodney Speakers Series was held at the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library throughout the Spring 2013 Semester. Students at the BA, MA, and PhD levels, at both KSU and Clark Atlanta University, participated.

A full schedule of the Walter Rodney Speakers Series can be found on our series’ Facebook page.

The series is made possible through a partnership of the Walter Rodney Foundation, the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library, Kennesaw State University African and African Diaspora Studies Department, the Georgia Humanities Council, and Clark Atlanta University Department of History and Political Science.

 

The Most Recent Event

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The Eight Annual Speakers Series
(2020)

  • 2/6 - Aaron Kamugisha

    — The rest of the 2020 series was indefinitely postponed after this first week due to COVID-19 —

The Seventh Annual Speakers Series
(2019)

  • 2/28 - Charisse Burden-Stelly

  • 3/7 - Bocafloja

  • 3/14 - David Sheen

  • 4/25 - Peter Linebaugh and Ajamu Nangwaya

The Sixth Annual Speakers Series
(2018)

  • 1/18 -Salvador González Escalona and Geoffroy de Laforcade

  • 3/8 - Seth M. Markle

  • 4/4 - William F. Pepper, Carl R. Edwards, Jimmy R. Hutchinson, Asha T. Rodney, and Aljosie Aldrich Harding

  • 4/12 - Mustafah Dhada

  • 4/26 - Geoffroy de Laforcade and Kali Akuno

The Fifth Annual Speakers Series
(2017)

  • 2/2 - Jesse Benjamin, Richard Benson, Jillian Ford, LaTrina Jackson, and Seneca Vaught

  • 2/9 - Yvette Modestin, Damani Aaquil, and Jesus "Chucho" Garcia

  • 2/16 - Mike Williams, Tiffany Smith, Damani Aaquil, Joyce King, Valora Richardson, Project South

  • 3/2 - Roger van Zwanenberg

  • 4/27 - Special Atlanta Area Guests

The Fourth Annual Speakers Series
(2016)

  • 1/21 - BocaFloja

  • 1/28 - Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Jesse Benjamin, Illise Cohen, Azadeh Shahshahani, and Dina Masri

  • 2/4 - Seyoum Bey, Shiranthi Goonathilaka, Avery Jackson, Tiffany Smith, and Devyn Springer

  • 2/18 - Amanda Barnes, Sergio Degadillo-Morales, Susana Duran Perez, and Melanie Rivas-Triana

  • 2/25 - Patricia Rodney, Asha T. Rodney, Rohit Kanhai, Wazir Mohammed, and Donald Rodney

  • 3/31 - Sohail Daulatzai

  • 4/14 - Nmadili Okwumabua and David Hughes

  • 4/21 - Vikram Tamboli

  • 4/28 - Aljosie Aldrich Harding, Patricia Daly, Jualynne Dodson, and Sue Ross

The Third Annual Speakers Series
(2015)

  • 1/22 - Stephanie Guilloud, Ashe Helm-Hernandez, Ash-Lee Henderson, Alex Pitman, Shekinah King, and BocaFloja

  • 2/5 - Cynthia Enloe

  • 2/12 - Sam Livingston and Kurt Young

  • 2/19 - Babacar M'Bow

  • 3/5 - Akanmu Adebayo, Ryan Ronnenberg, and Lucie Viakinnou-Brinson

  • 3/20 & 21 - The 12th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium

  • 4/2 - Robin D. G. Kelley

  • 4/16 - Verene Shepherd

  • 4/23 - Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Jesse Benjamin, Ismail Khalidi, Banah Ghadbian, and Jasiri X

The Second Annual Speakers Series
(2014)

  • 2/6 - Geoffroy de Laforcade and Seneca Vaught

  • 2/20 - Bill Fletcher, Makungu Akinyela, Kali Akuno, Ajamu Baraka, Jesse Benjamin, Mustafah Dhada, Hashim Gibrill, Brandon Lundy, and Asha T. Rodney

  • 2/27 - Natsu Saito, Tanya Washington, and Jed Kinnison

  • 3/21 & 22 - The 11th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium

  • 4/10 - Aleta Alston-Toure, Jesse Benjamin, Bethany Campbell, Natsu Saito, Asha Rodney, and Seneca Vaught

  • 4/17 - Fragano Ledgister and Andrew J. Douglas

  • 4/24 - Ward Churchill

The First Annual Speakers Series
(2013)

  • 1/17 - Patricia Rodney

  • 1/24 - Anani Dzidzienyo

  • 1/31 - Jesse Benjamin

  • 2/7 - BocaFloja

  • 2/14 - Firoze Manji

  • 2/22 - Bill Strickland, Susan Ross, and Derrick White

  • 2/28 - Akinyele Umoja

  • 3/13 - Kali Akuno

  • 4/18 - Jesus "Chucho" Garcia and Hashim Gibrill

  • 4/25 - Babacar MBow

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