2023 Bauder Lectures
The 2023 Bauder Lecture, featuring Nadia Owusu
Howard Community College, Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center (HVPA)
September 21, 2023. All events are free and open to the public.
12:30 p.m.
Howard Community College’s Smith Theatre and streamed via Vimeo
Nadia Owusu, author of “Aftershocks,” delivered the keynote at the 3rd Annual Bauder Lecture. Following her keynote, Owusu was joined by Tope Folarin, a Nigerian American writer based in Washington, D.C., and author of “A Particular Kind of Black Man,” for an in-depth conversation.
The event included sign-language interpretation for patrons joining us both in person and via Vimeo.
6:00 p.m.
Howard Community College’s Monteabaro Recital Hall
This in-person event featured a short reception from 5–6 p.m., the keynote by Nadia Owusu, followed by a book signing. Owusu was joined by Tope Folarin, who introduced Ms. Owusu and facilitated the Q&A. This event included sign-language interpretation.
The Don Bauder Awards, an important feature of the lecture series, are open to all HCC credit students who have read all or part of Nadia Owusu's book Aftershocks and who choose to respond and reflect on the book with an essay or through any type of creative expression. The awards honor Dr. Lillian Bauder’s late husband and his civil rights and social justice efforts.
The Winners of the Essay Award and the Creative Expression Award will receive a prize of $750 and the Runners-Up will receive a prize of $250. Students can find more information and submit their entries by self-enrolling in this open Canvas course: https://howardcc.instructure.com/courses/1103236. The deadline is March 1, 2024.
Nadia Owusu is a Brooklyn-based writer and urbanist. Her memoir, “Aftershocks”, was selected as a best book of 2021 by over a dozen publications, including Time, Vogue, Esquire, and the BBC, and has been translated into five languages. It was a New York Times Editors’ Choice pick, named one of Barack Obama’s favorite books of the year, and selected by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai for her Literati book club.
Nadia is the winner of a Whiting Award in nonfiction and has received fellowships from Yaddo and Art Omi. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Orion, Granta, The Paris Review Daily, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, Bon Appétit, Travel + Leisure, and others. She teaches creative writing at Columbia University and at the Mountainview MFA program and is the Director of Storytelling at Frontline Solutions, a consulting firm supporting social-change organizations.
Tope Folarin, a Nigerian-American writer based in Washington, D.C., introduced Ms. Owusu and moderated the discussion during both events. He serves as Director of the Institute for Policy Studies and the Lannan Visiting Lecturer in Creative Writing at Georgetown University. He is the recipient of the Caine Prize for African Writing, the Whiting Award for Fiction, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, among other awards. He was educated at Morehouse College and the University of Oxford, where he earned two master’s degrees as a Rhodes Scholar. His debut novel, “A Particular Kind of Black Man”, was published by Simon & Schuster.
The Bauder Lecture by Howard Community College is made possible by a generous grant from Dr. Lillian Bauder, a community leader and Columbia resident. Howard Community College will present an annual endowed author lecture known as The Bauder Lecture, and the chosen book will be celebrated with two student awards. Known as the Don Bauder Awards, any Howard Community College student who has read the featured book is eligible to respond and reflect on the book in an essay or other creative format. The awards honor the memory of Don Bauder, late husband of Dr. Lillian Bauder and a champion of civil rights and social justice causes.
“Aftershocks” was selected by the Howard County Book Connection committee as its choice for the 2023–2024 academic year. The Howard County Book Connection is a partnership of Howard Community College and the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society (HoCoPoLitSo). Visit the Howard County Book Connection web page for additional information.
In partnership with the Howard County Library System.
