Charlotte event

Algorithmic Sovereignty: Jazz as Source Code

Cost: Free. As the third installment of the Marley P. Carroll Symposium Series, Algorithmic Sovereignty: Jazz as Source Code operates as a critical bridge between the UNC Charlotte School of Architecture and the Harvey B. Gantt Center. This two-day interdisciplinary symposium convenes computational designers, spatial theorists, and musical avant-gardists to explore the relationship between cultural memory, artificial intelligence, and the power of communities to shape the technologies and environments that influence their lives. Building on Ruha Benjamin's powerful insights into systemic bias ( Technology, Savior or Slayer ), the symposium posits a radical reframing of artificial intelligence: moving away from the perception of AI as cold, extractive machinery, and instead treating it as an "ancestral repository" of human genius and cultural memory. By translating the complex polyrhythms and structural improvisation of jazz into a rigorous design lexicon, the event empowers designers and communities to transition from passive consumers of digital tools to active architects of their civic data and spatial futures. Cultural Innovation Summit Day 1 Location: Harvey B. Gantt Center, November 12, 5 pm - 9 pm The summit centers the human experiences, cultural knowledge, and lived histories behind technological innovation. Programming features technical and musical workshops, followed by keynote presentations from David Brown (Professor, UIC; theorist on the "Available City") and Olalekan Jeyifous (Black Reconstruction Collective artist and speculative architect). A special keynote video presentation by 7-time Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon grounds the evening in the architecture of survival and cultural memory, followed by a civic design panel featuring transformative architects Cathy Morrison, FAIA, and Malcolm Davis, AIA, and technologist Iyare Oronsaye. Academic Computation & Application Day 2 Location: UNC Charlotte (Storrs Building Salon), November 13, 12 noon - 5 pm Day 2 bridges cultural theory with rigorous academic computation. The day features deep-dive keynotes by transdisciplinary AI and spatial scholars Vernelle A. A. Noel (Carnegie Mellon University) and Ifeoma Ebo (Creative Urban Alchemy / City College of New York). The academic programming is enriched by an exhibition of sophomore architectural work from the Harmonic Rhythms studio, a live student vernacular jazz dance performance, and culminates in a closing interdisciplinary panel exploring the synthesis of physical movement, social entrepreneurship, and generative design. Please note: Day 1 takes place at the Gantt Center (551 S. Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28202). Day 2 takes place on the campus of UNC Charlotte inside the Storrs Building Salon (9115 Mary Alexander Road, Charlotte, NC 28262).

Time

Nov 12 · 5:00 PM-9:00 PM

Place

Harvey B. Gantt Center

Price

Free

Source

Culture + museum calendars