Provost's Lecture: Richard Bailey
November 9, 2015: 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Dr. Richard Bailey from Canisius College, Buffalo, NY; Author of Race and Redemption in Puritan New England.
Topic: "'Carnal Knowledge,' Punishment, and Patience: At an Intersection of Sex, Religious Convictions, Racial Constructions, and Redemption in Puritan New England"
The talk will investigate the roles affectionate and affective relationships potentially played in the construction of racial identities in colonial New England, especially in light of the religious convictions of at least some of the participants. While not necessarily motivated by racial thinking and ideology, these relationships often provided many whites the opportunities to make emotional statements of ownership and superiority, fostering the developing raced identities found throughout colonial New England’s society. In the end, the argument will focus on the ways in which such identities possibly intersected with offers of spiritual freedom to extend condemnation and comfort to New Englanders, while both building and bridging perceived differences.