“Mediating Difference: Sights and Sounds” will be held April 8 at Intellectual House 鈥� w菨色菨b蕯altx史 鈥� on the 91探花campus. The main organizers are , associate professor of communication and director of the Center for Communication, Difference and Equity; and , associate professor of American Ethnic Studies.

The focus of this second annual conference 鈥� patterned a bit like the gatherings 鈥� is on “the visual and aural markers of this thing we’re calling difference,” Joseph said. “We investigate similar issues of power and privilege, but come to our questions through methodologically distinct ways.”

Morning keynote addresses are open to the public. Musicologist of the University of California, Riverside, will discuss the sound of difference at 10 a.m., and art historian of the University of Texas at Austin, will discuss the sight of difference at 11 a.m.

Participating in addition to Joseph and Retman are 91探花faculty members and of the Department of History; and of the Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies; of the Department of English and of the Department of Communication. Many have affiliate appointments in other units as well.

“We are all female associate professors in some stage of our second major projects or books, or trying to find our way there, and we don’t usually have the allocated time and space to just be scholars,” Joseph said.

The eight have been meeting together this year to share and critique their writing. The conference isn’t the end of their work together; they will attend a writing retreat later to move their projects forward, and may convene again next year.

“We鈥檝e all been expressing how amazing it is to rediscover our scholarly selves in the midst of service and mentoring loads. And the interdisciplinary mix has been particularly invigorating,” said Joseph. “While some of us with more obvious disciplinary connections have shared work in the past, we haven’t done so in this regular, focused format. This has been a whole different, exciting experience.”

Retman added, “This research group has emphasized the messy process of writing, rather than the polished products of research that are the usual focus of public intellectual exchange. It’s been tremendously productive and energizing in that way.”

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For more information about “Mediating Difference,” contact Joseph at 206-543-2660 or rljoseph@uw.edu; or Retman at 206-543-0470 or sretman@uw.edu.

“” is the title of the History Lecture Series featuring four 91探花faculty, each discussing slavery from a different angle. The lectures will be from 7 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 23 and 30 and Nov. 6 and 13. The first three will be in 130 Kane Hall, the fourth next door in 120 Kane.

Lynn Thomas, professor and chair of the department, said the series notes the 150^th anniversary of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

“The core message of the series is that slavery and freedom have been foundational to the making of the United States,” Thomas said. “Not just in the years surrounding the Civil War but over our entire history. A set of four amazing 91探花faculty will tell this story.”

Oct. 23: , “Ancient Roman Slavery and American Slavery.” Slaveholders from colonial times through the 19^th century in the United States often aspired to emulate Ancient Rome as a civilization. But how did the Romans themselves conceive and institutionalize slavery? And how did their understanding of freedom hinge on the development of a slave system?

Oct. 30: , “Slavery, Race and the Origins of American Freedom.” Slavery was key to European colonization of America, but how could it flourish in the revolutionary world of the late 18th century? Haiti and the United States provide contrasting examples.

Nov. 6: , “Slavery: Antebellum America鈥檚 National Institution.” Slavery was not just a southern institution but a national one, and wealth produced by the enslaved helped to deepen the U.S. commitment to slavery in the 19^th century.

Nov. 13: , “Race, Empire, and Post-Emancipation Struggles for Freedom.” Race continued to define access to citizenship even after the U.S. abolished slavery. What have been the limitations and contradictions of emancipation in the decades following the Thirteenth Amendment, and how have different peoples and movements struggled for freedom after emancipation?

for lectures are $5-$10, full series $15-$35. For more information, call 206-543-5790.