ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA – Dr. Matthew Platt will serve as the keynote speaker for the Dorothy Perry Thompson Colloquium in African American Studies and the African American Experience.
The colloquium is set for Wednesday, March 23, at 7 p.m. via Zoom. You must register to attend.
Platt, an associate professor of political science at Morehouse College, will give a talk entitled “Jacob, Esau, and the Politics of Soup” in which he’ll use the biblical story of Jacob and Esau as a metaphor for Black politics. In the story, Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for “a mess of pottage.” Platt connects data on Black bill sponsorship in Congress with an exploration into whether Black Americans have engaged in a similarly unbalanced transaction, arguing that the pottage metaphor can be extended as a general characterization of Black political experiences.
About Matthew Platt
At Morehouse, Platt teaches courses on American politics, Congress and undergraduate research methods. His research focuses on Black agenda-setting. He’s currently working on a manuscript examining 20th-century Black politics through the lens of bill sponsorship in Congress. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Rochester.
About the Colloquium
The annual colloquium honors the late English Professor Dorothy Perry Thompson, the founder of Winthrop University’s African American Studies program. The colloquium also offers the opportunity to bring in nationally- and internationally-renowned writers and scholars to talk about different aspects of the African American experience.
For more information on Winthrop’s African American Studies program and the colloquium, visit the website.
