All are advised of an opportunity to explore “Masquerade, Masking and Multiculturalism in Canada: An International Symposium” on campus from June 2 – 4, 2014. The issues being discussed include cultural appropriation, blackface, and Chinese ethnic drag.
“The symposium foregrounds the multiple motivations, actors, and outcomes in the performance of race, and especially those that create belonging or exclusion,” says Dr. Alison Marshall, Professor, Department of Religion, Brandon University and Adjunct Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Winnipeg. “While many Winnipeggers and tourists enjoy Folklorama’s ethno-cultural spectacles, food and music, we are concerned with the way that the performance of race sometimes mimics historical processes, structures and systems of power by stereotyping and marginalizing newcomers and Indigenous peoples.”
The symposium also features performances and will open with a keynote from Georgetown University Professor Dr. Katrin Sieg. Dr. Sieg will address the ethical issues museums face over relics acquired during colonial expansion in her lecture titled “Dragging up Bodies in European Museums”.
A full schedule of events is available online. All are invited; however registration is required prior to 4:30 pm on Wednesday, May 28. RSVP with your full name and contact information to Liyana Fauzi at 204-786-9878.
This event is co-sponsored by The University of Winnipeg, Brandon University, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
