The work of French-Caribbean poet, philosopher and literary critic Édouard Glissant, left, was the subject of a panel discussion April 8 at the Africana Studies and Research Center.

Glissant's works focus on the struggle against colonialism, globalization and their combined effects on the subjugated citizens of the world, and his ideas lay the foundation for studies in multiculturalism, identity politics, minority literature and Black Atlanticism. Glissant and filmmaker Manthia Diawara visited campus for the panel and a Cornell Cinema screening of Diawara's 2009 film "One World in Relation," which illustrates Glissant's theory of relation and his thoughts on diversity and anti-imperialism.

Glissant and Diawara were respondents at the panel discussion, which was moderated by Africana Center Director Salah Hassan, right. Participating scholars included Gerard Aching, Romance studies; Jonathan Culler, English and comparative literature; Natalie Melas and Jonathan Monroe, comparative literature; and English Ph.D. candidates Anthony Reed and Natalie Leger Palmer.

The events were co-sponsored by the Minority, Indigenous and Third World Studies Research Group; the Institute for Comparative Modernities; French Studies Program; Society for the Humanities; and Department of English.