Department of English

• Monday, March 19, 2018 - 10:00am to 11:30am

Class of 55 Room, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, 3420 Walnut Street

From March 18-22, Penn Faculty will convene a Teach-In on “the production, dissemination, and use of knowledge.” Organized by Penn's Faculty Senate, the effort spans all of Penn’s twelve schools culminating in 24 events across campus that consider the role of the Academy and spark a community dialogue on knowledge. All events are free and open to the public.

The popular media sometimes portray American universities as places where discussion of racial matters is conducted along narrow, politically correct lines of thinking, with humanities professors in particular more concerned to indoctrinate their students than to encourage fresh thinking. The reality is of course quite different. Current research on race is varied and complex, as are the styles and practices of teaching in today's humanities and humanistic social sciences.

The faculty on this panel are doing leading-edge research on the cultural, philosophical, historical, and political dimensions of race and racial science, and teaching their research to undergraduates across the spectrum of humanities and science majors. How do they communicate the complexities of their research to a diverse constituency of college students, many of whom may find the very topic of race difficult to discuss?

Join us for a panel discussion that will highlight the rigor, creativity, and passion with which Penn's faculty are meeting that challenge. Featuring:

David Eng, Richard L. Fisher Professor of English and Asian American Studies

Sebastián Gil-Riaño, Assistant Professor of History and Sociology of Science

Susan Lindee, Professor of History and Sociology of Science

Quayshawn Spencer, Assistant Professor of Philosophy

Moderated by Jim English, John Welsh Centennial Professor of English; Director, Wolf Humanities Center.