Why the Humanities Matter Now

George Lipsitz

George Lipsitz. Photo by Rod Rolle.

Exploring the humanities to address racial issues and police use of force

 

Noted black-studies scholar George Lipsitz will speak on the importance of the humanities in addressing ongoing racial discrimination and violence. The lecture, “The Ferguson Conjuncture: Why the Humanities Matter Now,” will be held Tuesday, March 29, at 7 p.m. in the Anita Tuvin Schlechter (ATS) Auditorium.

 

Lipsitz will explore how humanistic approaches have been applied, or not applied, surrounding police use of force to create what he calls the “Ferguson Conjuncture.” Lipsitz is referencing Ferguson, Missouri, where the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, by a white police officer sparked scores of protests and a broader national conversation about race and the police. Lipsitz argues the events and ideas emerging from the conflict in Ferguson reveal a betrayal of the promise of the humanities to teach discernment, judgment and empathy as tools for envisioning a common and creative human existence.

 

Lipsitz is professor of black studies and sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research revolves around the topics of social movements, urban culture and inequality. His publications include How Racism Takes Place, The Possessive Investment in Whiteness, A Life in the Struggle, Time Passages and The Fierce Urgency of Now. Lipsitz also serves as a senior editor of Kalfou, a comparative and relational journal of ethnic studies. He serves as president of the board of directors of the African American Policy Forum and as advisory board chair of the University of California’s Center for Black Studies Research.

 

This event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Division of Student Life, the Churchill Fund and the departments of American studies and history. It is also a part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty series.

 

Learn more

 

 

 

Published March 21, 2016