“The People’s Court: Law and Performance from Slavery to the Civil Rights Movement”

Date

February 29, 2024

Time

4:10 pm – 5:30 pm

Location

754 Schermerhorn Extension

Dr. Bryan Wagner’s talk examines a demotic tradition in African American music, folklore, and vaudeville comedy based on the jurisprudence of the police court. Looking to writers and performers ranging from Zora Neale Hurston to Dewey Markham, it finds in this tradition an alternative philosophy of law attuned to roles rather than rights, asymmetry rather than notional equality, and improvisation rather than reasoned restraint.

Thursday, February 29, 2024

4:10 – 5:30 PM

754 Schermerhorn Extension