Sixth Annual Retention, Success, and Best Practices Conference

Release Date
Event Date
-
Location
ASCC
Dr. Jason Young's headshot, wearing a light grey suit and tie, a green nature background.

Please register by April 16

The HFC Dr. Henry J. Bowers Focus Group will host its 6th annual Retention, Success, and Best Practices Conference on Friday, April 25, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on the first floor of the Andrew A. Mazzara Administrative Services & Conference Center (ASCC) (Building L on the main campus).

University of Michigan Associate Professor of History Dr. Jason R. Young will be the keynote speaker.

“I have attended this annual conference for several years and I have always been impressed by both the brilliant students and the fantastic presentations that I've seen. I've been looking for ways to get more involved,” said Young. “I was pleased and honored to be asked to deliver the keynote address. This program has been important to so many people, and I am happy to be a part of it.”

His keynote address will cover the various paths people take on their personal and professional journeys.

“Life is less a straight path and more a winding road,” said Young. “I want to celebrate all the stops along the way.”

“The Execution of Excellence through the Humanities”

This year’s conference theme is “The Execution of Excellence through the Humanities.” This statement of purpose challenges us to reimagine the procedural and intellectual limitations imposed by conferences. Conferences can become exercises of intellectual frivolity rather than problem-solving, community-building spaces for information gathering, growth, and production. Focusing on the importance of the application of knowledge, this year’s conference will center on the liberatory praxis of critical thought informed production. The objective of this year’s conference is intentionally designed to create ideological and material demonstration of what is learned throughout the day.

At the end of the day, attendees will present what they have learned from the sessions to the large group. The objective is to strive for articulation, development, and implementation of meaningful strategies and deliberately sustainable programs to address the challenges identified in each plenary session.

About the keynote speaker

Young has taught at U-M in Ann Arbor since 2017. Previously, he taught at the University of Buffalo. He earned his bachelor’s degree in history and French at Morehouse College and his doctoral degree in history from the University of California, Riverside.

At U-M, Young is the Mary Fair Croushore Professor of Humanities and an Associate Professor of History. He is also the Director of the Institute for the Humanities. He teaches and researches in the fields of 19th century United States history, African American history, and the African diaspora. He specializes in the history of art, religion, and folk culture.

Young is also a prolific author.

  • He has written Rituals of Resistance: African Atlantic Religion in Kongo and the Lowcountry Region of Georgia and South Carolina in the Era of Slavery, an exploration into the religious and ritual practices that linked West-Central Africa with the Lowcountry region of Georgia and South Carolina.
  • With Dr. Edward J. Blum, he served as the co-editor of The Souls of W.E.B. Du Bois: New Essays and Reflections, a collection of articles that examines Du Bois’s personal religious convictions along with his scholarly examinations of religion.
  • He is currently researching his next book project, To Make the Slave Anew: Art, History and the Politics of Authenticity.

His articles have been published in:

  • The Journal of African American History
  • The Journal of Africana Religions
  • The Journal of Southern Religion

Young was the co-curator of the exhibition called “Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina,” which was displayed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City from September 9, 2022 to February 5, 2023.

Transfer partners will be on-site

For anyone interested in transferring to a university, partners will be on site to provide information and connections to students.

Please register by April 16

The conference is free and open to the public. Both a continental breakfast and lunch will be provided. The deadline to RSVP for the conference is Wednesday, April 16 (see link above).

NOTE: The presentations may be recorded. By registering, you acknowledge such recordings and consent to being recorded.

For questions or more information, contact any of the following:

Public events at HFC are open to all. Everyone is welcome.

While the conference is free of charge, there are costs associated with hosting. If you wish, you are welcome to consider donating to the Dr. Henry J. Bowers Focus Group through the HFC Foundation. Select the link, choose the category "Other," and list the Focus Group as your area of choice.