University of Wisconsin–Madison

Karen Fields, Co-author of Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life

Racecraft: An Elemental Form of American Life

Durkheim and Du Bois: The Idea of Race & the Idea of Soul

Tuesday, October 8, 4pm, 206 Ingraham

Soul and Race in Everyday Rituals of America Life

Wednesday, October 9, 4pm, 8417 Social Science

Open Seminar for Students, Faculty and Public

Thursday, October 10, 12:20pm, 8108 Social Science

Co-sponsored by Global Studies and the Afro-American Studies Department

A woman sits as if in contemplation. Her eyes are focused on something downward and to her right. Her head appears to be just resting on the middle and ring fingers of her left hand; her ring finger features a gold band. She wears metallic eyeglasses featuring oval lenses in a brushed bronze finish. A small hat of finely woven straw sits atop her head; a band of black lace wraps around the hat and is further embellished by a floral element in soft greens, pinks, and purple. The shoulders and collar of a bright yellow jacket and a hint of a green blouse can be seen at the bottom of the frame. The woman is seated indoors; the suggestion of a table covered in a white tablecloth and flora can be glimpsed in the background, as can a string of white lights.

KAREN E. FIELDS is an independent scholar and author. Dr. Fields holds degrees from Harvard University, Brandeis University, and the Sorbonne. She is the author of many scholarly articles and these books: With Mamie Garvin Fields, Lemon Swamp and Other Places: A Carolina Memoir (1982), Revival and Rebellion in Colonial Central Africa (1985), and a full retranslation of Emile Durkheim’s greatest book, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1995). With Barbara J. Fields, she has recently published Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life (2012), and is currently at work on Bordeaux’s Africa. She lives in Richmond Virginia.