Dr. Carolyn Denard and Dr. Philathia Bolton of The Africa Institute at Global Studies University (GSU) participated in a special panel at the 72nd Annual Conference of the Japan Black Studies Association (JBSA). The two-day conference opened on June 27, 2026, at Meiji Gakuin University’s Shirokane Campus in Tokyo, Japan.
The panel examined the challenges and approaches involved in translating Toni Morrison’s work. It was jointly sponsored by the Toni Morrison Society and JBSA.
Dr. Denard, founder of the Toni Morrison Society and a Toni Morrison Senior Fellow in African Diaspora Literature and Cultural Studies at The Africa Institute, organized and moderated the session.
Dr. Bolton, Chair of the Department of Humanities at The Africa Institute, presented a paper titled “Story as Language: Cultural Resonance in Toni Morrison’s Novels.”
Dr. Dana Williams, former president of both the Modern Language Association and the Toni Morrison Society, delivered the keynote lecture.
Held under the theme “Black Studies and Cultural Translation,” the conference brought together scholars to examine Black literature, thought, and culture across languages and cultural contexts.
