Awam Amkpa, Professor of Drama and Africana Studies at NYU, and a former student of Mr. Soyinka in Nigeria, introduced and guided the scholar throughout the week and moderated some sessions.
Mr. Soyinka’s main lecture, “Negritude By Any Other Name”, emphasized the role African intellectuals and their voices in the need to address continental challenges like terrorism, migration, religious absolutism and their consequences. He also addressed how artists can be a conduit to solve these issues.
The following day, Tuesday October 4th, saw Mr. Soyinka participate in an imagined dialogue between his work and the late Senegalese intellectual Leopold Seder Senghor on the application of Negritude ideas. The conversation, through a film directed by Manthia Diawara, was followed up on a Q&A session between Mr. Soyinka, Mr. Diawara, and eminent historian of Africa at NYU Frederick Cooper.
