Opis
Data: 11.05.2026 Czas rozpoczęcia: 11.30 Miejsce: Reymonta 4, room 37 The talk introduces students to Afrofuturism as a framework for understanding the intersections of Black culture and speculative imagination. Moving beyond the popularity of Black Panther and its fictional nation of Wakanda, the lecture asks where (and how) Afrofuturism manifests across contemporary popular culture in the United States and globally. Focusing primarily on audiovisual media, the talk explores how selected artists reimagine Black American identity, history, and futurity through sound and image. Case studies include the genre-defying visual and musical work of Janelle Monáe, alongside other influential figures such as Erykah Badu, Parliament-Funkadelic, OSHUN, and Missy Elliott. Their work demonstrates how Afrofuturist aesthetics operate through music videos and performance, blending science fiction elements with critiques of race, gender, and power. The lecture also highlights visual artists such as Manzel Bowman, Fabrice Monteiro, Olalekan Jeyifous, and Jacque Njeri, whose works extend Afrofuturist visions into digital art, photography, and architecture. By situating these examples within broader traditions of science fiction and Black cultural production, the lecture demonstrates how Afrofuturism functions not merely as an aesthetic, but as a critical mode of cultural and political expression. Students will gain a clearer understanding of how Afrofuturism reshapes narratives of the past, present, and future, and in so doing reveals that Wakanda is not a singular place, but a dispersed cultural imagination embedded across global media. Lidia Kniaź-Hunek is an Assistant Professor at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Poland. Her research focuses on pop music, American audiovisual media (particularly music videos) and Black Studies, with a special emphasis on Afrofuturism. Her diverse scholarly interests are reflected in her publications, including a chapter on Janelle Monáe in Fifty Key Figures in Cyberpunk Culture, as well as contributions to sf journals such as Extrapolation and Vector. In addition to her research and teaching, she serves as Coordinator of the Sounds of America series and the Ask an American series, both of which focus on introducing audiences to diverse aspects of American culture. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal New Horizons in English Studies. [PL] Wydarzenie można zaliczyć w ramach programu OSA: - Opiekun: dr Justyna Budzik - Liczba godzin OSA: 2 godziny - Forma zaliczenia: sporządzenie krótkiej notatki w języku polskim lub angielskim (max. 500-600 znaków), dotyczącej tematyki poruszanej podczas wykładu i przesłanie jej dr Justynie Budzik do 25.05.2026. Notatki wysłane po tym terminie nie będą przyjmowane. Podpisy na Kartach będą składane w czasie dyżurów dr Justyny Budzik.
Data: 11.05.2026 Czas rozpoczęcia: 11.30 Miejsce: Reymonta 4, room 37 The talk introduces students to Afrofuturism as a framework for understanding the intersections of Black culture and speculative imagination. Moving beyond the popularity of Black Panther and its fictional nation of Wakanda, the lecture asks where (and how) Afrofuturism manifests across contemporary popular culture in the United States and globally. Focusing primarily on audiovisual media, the talk explores how selected artists reimagine Black American identity, history, and futurity through sound and image. Case studies include the genre-defying visual and musical work of Janelle Monáe, alongside other influential figures such as Erykah Badu, Parliament-Funkadelic, OSHUN, and Missy Elliott. Their work demonstrates how Afrofuturist aesthetics operate through music videos and performance, blending science fiction elements with critiques of race, gender, and power. The lecture also highlights visual artists such as M...