Hurston on the Horizon: Past, Present, and Future

FAIN: EH-272538-20

University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc. (Lawrence, KS 66045-3101)
Ayesha K. Hardison (Project Director: March 2020 to present)
Maryemma Graham (Co Project Director: August 2020 to present)

A three-week institute for 25 higher education faculty on the life and works of author Zora Neale Hurston.

This 3-week Institute for Higher Education Professionals focuses on author Zora Neale Hurston's diverse body of work, and its unwaning impact on American literature and culture. A novelist, folklorist, anthropologist, journalist, and precursor to the applied humanities, Hurston is the most prolific African American woman writer of the early 20th century. Her oeuvre, including an autobiography, novels, essays, and folklore collections published at the height of her career, is still expanding, as her previously unpublished work, namely short stories, plays, and ethnography, appear recurringly in print. "Hurston on the Horizon: Past, Present, and Future" is inspired by this as well as the enduring popularity of Hurston's seminal novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. The Institute will enable 25 participants to develop new perspectives and deeper appreciation of Hurston's texts in order to place her in 21st century contexts and foster new directions for teaching and research.

Associated Products

“Hurston’s Canon: Into the Mysteries of Zora Neale Hurston” (Blog Post)
Title: “Hurston’s Canon: Into the Mysteries of Zora Neale Hurston”
Author: Christopher Peace
Abstract: The first installment of a three-part series recapping the events of The Project on the History of Black Writing’s NEH Summer Institute “Hurston on the Horizon: Past, Present, and Future”.
Date: 09/28/2021
Primary URL: http://projecthbw.ku.edu/hbw/week-1-hurston-institute-recap/
Blog Title: “Hurston’s Canon: Into the Mysteries of Zora Neale Hurston”
Website: Project on the History of Black Writing

“New Hurston Studies and Beyond” (Blog Post)
Title: “New Hurston Studies and Beyond”
Author: Jade Harrison
Author: Christopher Peace
Abstract: The third installment of a three-part series recapping the events of the Project on the History of Black Writing’s 2021 NEH Summer Institute, "Hurston on the Horizon: Past, Present, and Future."
Date: 11/29/2021
Primary URL: http://projecthbw.ku.edu/uncategorized/week-3-hurston-institute-recap/
Blog Title: “New Hurston Studies and Beyond”
Website: Project on the History of Black Writing

“The “Other Hurston” – Broadening Communal and Digital Spaces” (Blog Post)
Title: “The “Other Hurston” – Broadening Communal and Digital Spaces”
Author: Christopher Peace
Author: Jade Harrison
Abstract: Part two of a three-part series recapping the events of The Project on the History of Black Writing’s NEH Summer Institute “Hurston on the Horizon: Past, Present, and Future”.
Date: 11/02/2021
Primary URL: http://projecthbw.ku.edu/hbw/week-2-hurston-institute-recap/
Blog Title: “The “Other Hurston” – Broadening Communal and Digital Spaces”
Website: Project on the History of Black Writing

"The Afterlife of a Biography” with Valerie Boyd (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: "The Afterlife of a Biography” with Valerie Boyd
Abstract: A conversation with Valerie Boyd, the Charlayne Hunter-Gault Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at the University of Georgia and author of Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston (Simon and Schuster, 2004). Moderated by John Lowe, Institute faculty.
Author: Valerie Boyd
Author: John Lowe
Date: 10/1/2021
Location: Zoom
Primary URL: http://mediahub.ku.edu/media/t/1_q34jtfrh

“The Legacy of Zora Neale Hurston and Southern Women Writers” with Tayari Jones (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: “The Legacy of Zora Neale Hurston and Southern Women Writers” with Tayari Jones
Abstract: A conversation with Tayari Jones, the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Creative Writing at Emory University and New York Times best-selling author of four novels set in the contemporary South, most recently An American Marriage (Workman, 2018). Moderated by Angela Watkins, NEH Summer Scholar.
Author: Tayari Jones
Author: Angela Watkins
Date: 11/5/2021
Location: Zoom
Primary URL: http://mediahub.ku.edu/media/t/1_gymbsniu

“The Politics of Black Joy and Zora Neale Hurston’s Legacy” with Lindsey Stewart (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: “The Politics of Black Joy and Zora Neale Hurston’s Legacy” with Lindsey Stewart
Abstract: A conversation with Lindsey Stewart, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Memphis and author of The Politics of Black Joy: Zora Neale Hurston and Neo-Abolitionism (Northwestern UP, 2021). Moderated by Leah Milne, NEH Summer Scholar.
Author: Lindsey Stewart
Author: Leah Milne
Date: 12/3/2021
Location: Zoom
Primary URL: http://mediahub.ku.edu/media/t/1_jnzpaxp8

“Channeling Zora Neale Hurston: Why She Speaks to Me as a Creative and Anthropologist” (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: “Channeling Zora Neale Hurston: Why She Speaks to Me as a Creative and Anthropologist”
Abstract: Keynote address for the "Hurston on the Horizon" virtual mini-conference.
Author: Irma McClaurin
Date: 1/28/2022
Location: Zoom
Primary URL: https://mediahub.ku.edu/media/t/1_jsrisiq2

"Soul of Zora" Quilt Exhibition with Artist Marla Jackson (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: "Soul of Zora" Quilt Exhibition with Artist Marla Jackson
Writer: Christopher Peace
Director: Christopher Peace
Director: Ashley Simmons
Producer: Ayesha Hardison
Producer: Maryemma Graham
Abstract: Interview with Lawrence, KS textile artist Marla Jackson. Part of “Hurston on the Horizon: Past, Present, and Future” NEH Summer Institute:
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://mediahub.ku.edu/media/t/1_pucmqn0q
Format: Web

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