Year of Freedom Presents Lunchtime Brown-Bag Discussion on ‘Contemporary Abolition’

By Alexandra Klingelhut

VCU’s “Year of Freedom” presents a lunchtime brown-bag discussion on “Contemporary Abolition: Activist, Academic and Artistic Resistance to the Prison-Industrial Complex,” led by Elizabeth Canfield.

The discussion will be held Wednesday, April 10, at noon at the Commons Theater. This event is free and open to the public.

Canfield, an assistant professor in Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, part of the College of Humanities and Sciences, will discuss emancipation from a broad perspective. The talk outlines the political and historical contexts for the rise of mass incarceration in the United States and will explore ways to resist this mass incarceration through art, activism and teaching. Canfield will draw from her research and her experience teaching in the Richmond City Jail to help frame the discussion.

The Year of Freedom remembers 150 years of Civil War and Emancipation history. The year-long event features lectures, speakers and activities surrounding the theme “confronting our past, facing our future.” The Year of Freedom is sponsored by the VCU Department of History in the College of Humanities and Sciences.

For more information or special accommodations, contact Ryan K. Smith, Department of History, rksmith3@vcu.edu or 804 828-1635.


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