Yale Bulletin and Calendar

September 17, 2004|Volume 33, Number 3

Scholars will examine the iconic career of Michael Jackson during two-day conference

Pop star Michael Jackson and the discourse he has inspired over issues of race, gender and sexuality will be the subject of a campus conference Thursday and Friday, Sept. 23 and 24.

The event, "Regarding Michael Jackson: Performing Racial, Gender and Sexual Difference Center Stage," is free and open to the public. Organized by graduate student Uri McMillan and visiting professor Seth Clark Silberman, the conference is co-sponsored by the Larry Kramer Initiative for Lesbian and Gay Studies and the Department of African American Studies.

The conference will bring together 18 scholars from around the world to examine Michael Jackson's iconic career and celebrity status. They will analyze Jackson's music, videos, media presence and public performances for their cultural significance and manipulation of celebrity culture. Photographer and artist Lyle Ashton Harris, whose work has been exhibited widely in France, Switzerland, Venezuela and across the United States, will give a keynote performance on Friday afternoon.

Jackson, known as the "King of Pop," has repeatedly underplayed his artistry, insisting that his songs come from dreams and that his dancing is instinctual. Yet, Jackson critics claim that his highly orchestrated performances, on and off stage, demonstrate anything but naïve or spontaneous behavior. Some maintain that today -- 22 years after the release of Jackson's record-selling "Thriller" -- Jackson has lost his artistic touch. Newsworthy on account of his December 2003 arrest for child molestation along with the increasing speculation about his impending bankruptcy, "Jackson endures as a focal point of the world's collective imagination and distress over issues of race, gender and sexuality," conference organizers write.

Conference events will take place in Rm. 309 and Rm. 119 of William L. Harkness Hall, 100 Wall St. The conference begins on Thursday in Rm. 309 with opening remarks by Silberman at 2 p.m., and concludes with Harris' performance on Friday at 4 p.m. in Rm. 119. A closing event will be held at 9 p.m. on Friday night at Café Adulis, 228 College St.

For more information, contact Silberman at (203) 432-9642.

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