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RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – Dr. Matthew Christensen, a professor of English in UTRGV’s Department of Literatures and Cultural Studies, spent the final week of November in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where he delivered the keynote address at Amistad Week.
Christensen, at the invitation of Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, also gave a series of talks and a workshop in conjunction with the publication of his newest book, Staging the Amistad: Three Sierra Leonean Plays.
Published in 2019 by Ohio University Press, the book is a drama anthology that is part of the Modern African Writing series and includes scripts about the historical events of the 1839 Amistad slave revolt, written by three of Sierra Leone’s most prominent playwrights of the late 20th century. Christensen edited the play anthology and wrote its scholarly introduction.
The Amistad slave revolt was carried out aboard the Amistad slave schooner by 53 Sierra Leoneans and has become an important event in Sierra Leonean national history. Amistad Week events in Sierra Leone opened Nov. 26 with a formal book launch and Christensen’s keynote address, which focused on the cultural significance of public history, creative literature and civic engagement.
The launch included speakers from the University of Sierra Leone, the Principals’ Association of Freetown, the Ministry’s Cultural Affairs section, Tabule Theatre Company, and the Empire Arts Institute, and drew an audience of about 100 professionals, scholars, university students, and schoolchildren. Christensen followed up his keynote the following day as one of six featured speakers at a symposium on the historical and cultural legacies of the Amistad slave rebellion in contemporary Sierra Leone.
He took center stage again Nov. 28 to lead a workshop at the Sierra Leone National Museum on using the arts to teach history, teaching the 30 teachers, university students, visual artists and creative writers attending how to develop a skit, song, story, or graphic text about the Amistad history for school children. During the workshop, former Houston Dynamo soccer player and current Sierra Leone National Football team forward Kei Kamara stopped by to introduce himself to one of the playwrights featured in Christensen’s book.
