John Akomfrah's Precarity: Art and the Humanities

The Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke University presented an interdisciplinary panel of humanities faculty—experts in jazz, archives, water, mental illness and art. The panelists discussed themes in "Precarity", the three-channel video by acclaimed British filmmaker John Akomfrah. Precarity is about the life and myth of Charles “Buddy” Bolden, the New Orleans cornet player credited as "the father of jazz." Part documentary, part costume drama, part music video, "Precarity" addresses history, memory, mythology, cultural identity, health, race—and many other issues facing U.S. society today.
Franklin Humanities Institute Director Ranjana Khanna moderated the following roundtable of panelists:

Laurent Dubois
Professor of Romance Studies and History
Faculty Director of the Forum for Scholars & Publics at Duke University

Michael Hardt
Professor of Literature
Co-Director of the Franklin Humanities Institute Social Movements Lab

Deborah Jenson
Professor of Romance Studies
Co-Director of the Franklin Humanities Institute Health Humanities Lab

Shambhavi Kaul
Assistant Professor of the Practice of Filmmaking, Art, Art History & Visual Studies

Pedro Lasch
Associate Research Professor, Art, Art History & Visual Studies
Director of the Franklin Humanities Institute Social Practice Lab

Mark Anthony Neal
James B. Duke Professor and Chair of African and African American Studies
Director of Duke Council on Race and Ethnicity (DCORE)
Host of Left of Black