Dartmouth conference to explore race in the academy

Posted 10/03/02

Cornel West, Hortense Spillers, among others, to speak

"Race Matters in the University of the 21st Century," a two-day national conference on how issues of race affect the work of American colleges and universities, will take place at Dartmouth College, Oct. 4-5, 2002.

The conference, which will bring together students, professors, and administrators from around the United States, will consider case studies to examine how American colleges and universities support the work of minority scholars, include racial issues in the curriculum, and organize and evaluate African-American studies programs on their campuses.

The sessions will explore white identity, or whiteness, and how it affects scholarship and teaching even though these effects are rarely acknowledged or even recognized. The conference goal is to develop a set of national recommendations to guide institutional diversity plans, curriculum reform, and faculty hiring and tenure procedures.

Conference organizers have been working with minority studies programs, Equal Opportunity offices, and other related programs at New England colleges and universities to invite academic decision makers, junior and senior faculty members of color, graduate students of color, and others who can enrich the conference and debate from their own experiences.

The first day of the conference, held on Friday, Oct. 4, in Collis Center on the Dartmouth campus, will focus on three panels, each devoted to a different case study:

• Case Study #1: "The place of African-American Studies in the 'corporatized' university," held from 8:30 am to noon, will consider public debate over the role of African-American studies in American universities. The lead panelist, noted African-American scholar Cornel West, will base his presentation on his recent experiences as a senior faculty member at Harvard University.
  
  Panelists will include Cornel West, Class of 1943 University Professor of Religion, Princeton University; Hortense Spillers, Whiton Professor of English, Cornell University; and Eric Lott, Professor of American Studies and Cultural Studies, University of Virginia.
• Case Study #2: "How race matters enter the curriculum," held from 1:30 – 3:00 pm, will explore the development and implementation of the race, ethnicity, and migration requirement in the Dartmouth College undergraduate curriculum. Panelists will speak about their experiences in changing curricula both at Dartmouth and at other institutions.
  
  Panelists will include Carol Boyce Davies, Director, African New World Studies and Professor of English and African-New World, Florida International University; Evelyn Hu Duhart, Professor of History and Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, Brown University; and Paul Lauter, Smith Professor of Literature, Trinity College, Hartford, Conn. Scott Jacobs, Dartmouth College Class of 1999, and Jorge Miranda, Dartmouth College Class of 2001, will speak from the perspective of students involved in developing the curriculum.
• Case Study #3: "Minority scholars in the academy," held from 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm, will discuss ways to create an encouraging and supporting environment for scholarship by people of color in the academy. Panelists will discuss their experiences in different fields of study and research.
  
  Panelists will include Donelda Cook, Assistant Vice President for Student Development, Loyola College, MD; Joseph Francisco, Professor of Chemistry, Purdue University; Dana Nelson, Professor of English and Social Theory, University of Kentucky.

The conference will conclude on Saturday, Oct. 5, with a moderated Town Meeting, held from 9:00 am to noon, in Dartmouth's Hopkins Center. At the Town Meeting, conference panelists will discuss issues raised across the case studies and take questions from the audience.

The "Race Matters" conference is open to the public free of charge, although registration is required. Registration information and more information for the public is available at the Dartmouth College website, www.dartmouth.edu or through Sandra Gregg at Sandra.gregg@dartmouth.edu.

The two-day conference is the inaugural event of the Dartmouth College Committee on Race in the Academy. The Committee, established in 2001 by Dartmouth's Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, is charged "to develop activities that explore the effects of race and ethnicity, specifically whiteness, on privilege and status in the academy." The Committee hopes to stimulate national debate on these issues in American colleges and universities.

Programs organized by the Committee will include activities for Dartmouth students, faculty, and alumni/ae, community residents, and a national audience of all those concerned with the work of American colleges and universities. Besides conferences like "Race Matters," the Committee's events will include a range of activities from academic workshops to cultural events and public debates.

"Race Matters" is also the second conference in the permanent series of "Dartmouth Conferences," established in 2000 to address issues of broad academic, social, cultural, and topical relevance. The Dartmouth Conferences are supported by a gift from Fannie and Dr. Alan Leslie to "bring together at Dartmouth nationally and internationally recognized scholars, experts, authorities, and others to explore and discuss issues of vital interest". Dr. Alan C. Leslie is a 1930 graduate of the College. The First Dartmouth Conference, held in November 2000, focused on globalization and its effects on higher education.

NOTE TO REPORTERS AND EDITORS:

A feed carrying video for all the proceedings will be available for the Friday conference sessions. Television cameras will be permitted for the Saturday Town Meeting by prior arrangement. A press section will be reserved for print reporters and photographers on both days.