In Fall 2017, the African and African Diaspora Studies program (AADS), led by Jeffrey Coleman, associate professor of English and coordinator for African and African Diaspora Studies, will host its first annual symposium. Members of AADS, other faculty members and students will deliver papers that will coincide with this year’s theme, “From Slavery to Freedom: The Struggle for Civic Virtue at St. Mary’s and Beyond.” The symposium will give special attention to recently discovered evidence that St. Mary’s Female Seminary owned slaves during the nineteenth century. The symposium will also examine practices designed to memorialize slavery on American college campuses. In addition, scholars will explore the history of slavery in St. Mary’s County, Southern Maryland and other parts of Maryland.