A lecture by Valerie C. Johnson
Friday, April 14, 12:15-1:30pm, University of Chicago Law School, 111 E 60th St, Room F. Boxed lunches will be available prior to the lecture.
Recent months have seen a wave of legislative gag orders, seeking to limit what can be taught in American institutions of higher learning, particularly around issues of race. At the heart of these efforts is what the late philosopher Charles Mills called an “epistemology of ignorance,” an orchestrated forgetting of the past. The battle over what can be learned is nothing short of a struggle for power, with one side seeking to preserve white supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism, but at a tremendous cost to a democratic society.
Valerie C. Johnson is Associate Professor of Political Science, Endowed Professor of Urban Diplomacy, and Interim Provost for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at DePaul University