How to Talk About Race in the 21st Century
What is the global context for race? What is the connection between race and colonialism? How can we understand individual and systemic racism?
Presentation with Q&A | Monday, November 30, 2:00-3:15 PM | Kim Scipes, Ph.D. | Professor of Sociology, PNW
Faculty members from Purdue University Northwest (PNW) offered a series of interdisciplinary lectures and discussions during the academic year of 2020-2021, about race relations and racism in America.
Titled “Race, Racism, Anti-Racism,” the fall 2020 portion of this series offers four lecture-discussion sessions led by PNW faculty members from the College of Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences. All sessions will be moderated by Karen Bishop Morris, associate professor of English.
Deepa Majumdar, professor of Philosophy, organized the faculty-driven series because she believes faculty members have an important contribution to make to the current dialogue about race.
“Activists are risking their lives for the sake of social justice," she said. "I felt strongly that given this extraordinary historical moment, we, the faculty, ought to be pooling our expertise and producing educational presentations."
Lee Artz, professor of Communication at PNW, cited the worldwide reaction to the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in May as providing the motivation for holding local discussions about race and racism.
"Citizens, black and white, responded with outrage in the largest protests since the civil rights movement," Artz said. "PNW faculty are here. We teach. We educate. We hope to increase recognition of racism and improve understanding of racial inequality and hopefully find effective anti-racism activities and actions."
All events are free, virtual and open to the public. Funding is provided by PNW's Office of Academic Affairs and the Office of the Chancellor.
Guests are welcome to join via Zoom or Facebook live. Registration is strongly encouraged. Full details can be found on the event webpage at pnw.edu/anti-racism.
About Kim Scipes, Ph.D.
Dr. Kim Scipes is a Professor of Sociology and has taught on the Westville Campus of Purdue University Northwest since 2004, following different careers as a printing press operator (with over nine years in the printing trades), high school teacher, web publisher, and secretary. He specializes in labor, both domestically and around the world, and is currently a member of the National Writers Union, UAW/AFL-CIO. He has been opening night and plenary speaker at global conferences in Canada, Germany, South Africa and Vietnam. Dr. Scipes has published widely in the United States and in 10 different countries around the world: he has published 13 peer-reviewed articles, as well as over 230 articles and book reviews for specialty and activist publications. (See publications.)
He teaches a range of interesting courses, taking a global approach and from a macro sociological perspective. Dr. Scipes has been engaged professionally at the global, national and local levels. He is a veteran of the US Marine Corps, serving from 1969-73, and fortunately staying in the United States during his time in the Marines; he became consciously political and “turned around” while on active duty.
Purdue University Northwest
Purdue University Northwest (PNW) is a premier metropolitan university dedicated to empowering transformational change in our students and in our community. Located in Northwest Indiana, near Chicago, PNW values academic excellence, supports growth, and celebrates diversity. For more information about PNW, visitwww.pnw.edu.