BGSU Black Pop Culture Virtual Symposium 2/22/2025

Black Pop Culture Virtual Symposium
Presented by the Black Pop Culture Collective @ BGSU
Saturday, February 22, 2025 | 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM EST Virtual Event

Virtual Symposium Registration Link

SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE
11:00 AM - 11:15 AM | Opening Remarks Welcome by the Black Pop Culture Collective @ BGSU

11:15 AM - 12:15 PM |
• Afrofuturism: Back to the Mothership
 How Animators Project Human Psychology onto Inanimate Objects to Stimulate Audience Emotion
• The Miseducation of Black Pop Culture (General/Education)
 The Evolution of Black Women in Entertainment

12:15 PM - 12:20 PM | Break

12:20 PM - 1:20 PM |
• Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before (Black Pop Culture General)
 Amplifying Representation: Black Voices in the Voice Acting Industry
• We Are Family! (Film, TV)
 More Than a Campus: A Comparative Analysis of A Different World and The Quad

1:20 PM - 1:25 PM | Break

1:25 PM - 2:10 PM | Keynote Address
​Dr. Angela Nelson, Director, School of Cultural and Critical Studies
"What is This ‘Popular Culture’ in Black Popular Culture?"

2:10 PM - 2:15 PM | Break

2:15 PM - 3:15 PM |
• Sounds of Blackness (Music)
 From R. Kelly to Kanye: When Should We Separate the Art from the Artist?
• It’s Not All About Wakanda (Film, Fashion, Comics)
 Transformers and Tribalism: When Optimus Prime Be Primming

3:15 PM - 3:20 PM | Break

3:20 PM - 4:20 PM |
• Music and Television: Ain’t We Lucky We Got’ em (Music/TV)
 “Dy-no-mite!” and “Daaamn, Gina!”: Connecting Black Music to Black TV Shows Good Times and Martin
• Follow the Drinking Gourd (History)
 Negotiating Identity: Black Lightning and the Manifestation of Dubious Double Consciousness in Black Superhero Narratives

4:20 PM - 4:25 PM | Break

4:25 PM - 5:00 PM | Closing Reflections & Open Discussion