Resident Fellowship

The Rosewood, Florida Massacre of 1922. The Kingdom of Hayti led by Henri Christophe in 1811. FTX. The Human Genome. Mars. The imagined spaces of Wakanda. The sites, locations, real or imagined, extant or existing digitally and online, and otherwise, or as part of the human body provide us with different ways of considering what world-making can mean across a variety of disciplines. The idea of world-making suggests that there are possibilities beyond the worlds we know right now. World-making presents thinking beyond the present to imagine worlds otherwise, worlds that we may not yet have access to, worlds that push past what might be possible. World-making invites creativity, necessitates building, and is inherently capacious. World-making asks us to be expansive in our thinking, building, imagining and theorizing. However, overly expansive utopian thinking has been used to oppressive ends. Proposals connected to any dimension of this broad field of inquiry, including literary, artistic, historical, socio-political, scientific, economic, ecological, media theoretical, philosophical, linguistic, as well as technology-focused perspectives are welcome. Dr. Régine Jean Charles, Director of Africana Studies and Dean’s Professor of Culture and Social Justice, and Professor of Africana Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies will lead the year-long interdisciplinary conversation among fellows about their work.

Throughout the year, fellows discuss topical readings and one another’s pre-distributed papers. Public presentations are held for fellows to discuss their work with the Northeastern community. In addition, the center provides support for web projects and a final event that showcases collaboration and research results.