Philodemic Room at Georgetown, wide angle shot.

Memorialization in Our Physical Spaces: Confronting Legacies of Slavery

Join the Philodemic Society, Georgetown’s undergraduate student debate organization, for an event examining the legacies of enslavement, how they manifest in our physical spaces, and considerations for re-imagining our built environment.

This event is part of ongoing engagement to re-imagine the Philodemic Room, a historic space on Georgetown’s main campus and home to weekly Philodemic Society debates.

In 2018, members of the Philodemic Society formed the Committee for Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation to research and document the historical connections of the Society to racism and discrimination and how those connections manifest in the Philodemic Room, the longstanding home for the Society’s debates. The Report found that a number of individuals formerly depicted in the room were associated with the Confederacy, enslavement, and racist ideologies. The current project, a partnership between the Philodemic Society and university, is carefully considering this space, and engaging the university community in determining a memorialization framework for the room that balances both historic acknowledgement and a clear expression of our community’s values. A web page is available with more details about the project.

Thursday, March 30

7:15 PM – Refreshments are available for guests in advance of the event.

8:00-9:00 PM – Panel Discussion. The event will begin with a moderated panel discussion with Georgetown faculty members, and opportunity for audience Q&A.

Panelists:

  • Soyica Diggs Colbert – Vice President for Interdisciplinary Initiatives, and Idol Family Professor of African American Studies and Performing Arts
  • Maurice Jackson – Associate Professor, Department of History, and Affiliated Professor of Music and African American Studies
  • Adam Rothman – Professor, Department of History, and Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Slavery and Its Legacies

9:00-10:00 PM – Student Discussion. The second half of the event will be structured to allow students an opportunity to discuss the questions and themes of the panel discussion further in small groups, followed by a moderated discussion among all students.

This event is co-sponsored by the Office of the President and Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation Initiative.

Accommodation requests related to a disability should be sent to slavery@georgetown.edu by 3/28. A good-faith effort will be made to fulfill requests.