The Office of Social Equity will host a cross-curricular
discussion on “Racism in the United States: The Aftermath of Charlottesville,”
on Tuesday, November 7, 2017. This event
will be held in room 225 of the Humanities and Social Sciences building, beginning
at 6:00 p.m.
The program begins with welcome and remarks
by IUP Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Timothy Moerland in
room 225.
The program continues with two small
group sessions and ends with a student panel discussion: The Student
Perspective of Charlottesville and Free Speech by the Diversity Student
Council, Diversity Peer Educators and IUP NAACP in room 225.
Session one programs, offered from 6:30
to 7:20 p.m. are:
- Abigail Adams, Department of Anthropology, “The
Biological Fiction of Race,” room 224. This
group will discuss this statement: “Despite
surface differences, humans are among the most generically similar of all
species and the biological diversity that we do have does not map on-to race.
The recognition that systems of racial classification are different from
society to society points to the social construction of racial difference. Race
represents the way Americans classify people, rather than a genetically
determined reality. Before we have a substantive discussion on race, we must be
aware that racial categories are not biologically real—we live in racial smog.”
- John Lewis, Department of Criminology and Criminal
Justice, “The First Amendment: Protection for Everyone or Protection for No
One,” room 223. This discussion will focus on the legal
ramifications associated with the First Amendment as it pertains to freedom of
speech, the right of peaceful assembly, and the right to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances. Libertarian and Communitarian
perspectives will be addressed and how the two perspectives might be blended by
the University community.
- David Loomis, “Free Speech, the First Amendment, and
Indiana, Pa.,” room 220. This session is a media literacy-framed discussion of varying mainstream news coverage
of Charlottesville and of the reporting of the national conversation that
continues to ripple out from the events of August 12th. One question for this
group discussion: What is the local news angle in Indiana, PA of this national
story?
- Daniel Puhlman, Department of Human Development and
Environmental Studies, “Standing Up for Diversity in Your Family,” room 217. Sometimes, family members and the people we love
hold beliefs that do not align with our own beliefs. This is especially true
when these beliefs are discriminatory in nature. This session will explore ways
that you can talk to your family members about diversity and racial issues in
the community, paying particular attention to talking to and maintaining
relationships with family members who hold biased or racially prejudiced belief
systems.
Session two programs, offered from 7:30
to 8:20 p.m., are:
- Roger Briscoe, Department of Education and School
Psychology, “The Role of Faculty During Racially Charged Events,” room 224. This
session will address faculty
responsibility when dealing with social justice on college campuses while
addressing issues that are racially charged. What should faculty tell their
students?
- Carrie Cole, Department of Theater, “Performance of
Protest/Performance as Protest,” room 223. This
session will discuss how protest
performance can be used as a tool to affect change—and how clarity of purpose
is vital to how protest performance is experienced.
- Elizabeth Ricketts, “Understanding Charlottesville as a
Crisis of Culture and Community: An Historical Perspective,” room 220. This session takes a look
at the ways in which the past has shaped the present by considering the
struggle over the construction and conventions of race relations in the South.
In particular, a look at the role of Civil War monuments and the Con-federate
flag as important cultural elements in efforts to establish and maintain white
cultural identity, and how these symbols have functioned to undergird white
supremacy and to fracture Southern society.
Attendance vouchers can be available. For further information about this event,
please e-mail social-equity@iup.edu.
This event is supported by the following IUP organizations: Diversity Student Council, Diversity Peer
Educators, Future Social Studies Educators Association, History Club, NAACP,
Phi Alpha Theta, Residence Hall Association, and United Against Islamophobia.