Young Lecture Honors Late UA English Professor

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Vincent Odamtten, professor of English at Hamilton College, will deliver the first Dr. Robert Milton Young Memorial Lecture in African American Literary and Cultural Theory at 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27, in 205 Gorgas Library on The University of Alabama campus.

The event is free and open to the public.

The lecture honors Young, a UA English department faculty member who died in January 2010 at age 42. Odamtten, who was Young’s mentor when Young was an undergraduate student at Hamilton, plans to speak of his longtime professional relationship with Young. The lecture is titled “The Pleasures of Influence and Reciprocity.”

Young was born in upstate New York and completed his doctorate in English at Syracuse University. He came to UA in 1997 and taught courses in African American literature and literary theory in the English department. A beloved teacher, mentor and colleague, he was selected by the College of Arts and Sciences to serve as a Distinguished Teaching Fellow from 2004 to 2007.

His book, “Signs of Race in Poststructuralism: Toward a Transformative Theory of Race,” appeared in 2009. He was promoted to professor in January 2010, just before his death.

“Young spent his career as a scholar and a teacher examining and guiding others in the examination of issues related to constructions of racial difference, hierarchies of class and the impact of these constructions and hierarchies upon the lived lives of those in disenfranchised communities,” said Dr. Yolanda Manora, associate professor of English at The University of Alabama.

Odamtten joined the Hamilton faculty in 1985 after earning a doctorate in English from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Although he specializes in African, Caribbean and African American literatures, Odamtten also teaches science fiction and postcolonial criticism. He has published an acclaimed book, “The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo,” and has contributed articles to a number of critical anthologies.

UA’s English department is hosting the lecture, which is co-sponsored by The College of Arts & Sciences, the A&S Diversity Committee, the Office of Community Affairs, the department of gender & race studies and New College.

The English department is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.