16 | December | 2021 | Transition Studies

View concluding remarks of Professor Appiah about the importance of institutions like the military and colleges in modeling the experiences of working together on terms of rough equality and overcoming racism.

“Working together along side one another……I think that mechanism is hugely important.“

“… and that’s one of the things about colleges… We need our colleges to be places where people work together across all kinds of identities on terms of rough equality because that will allow us to get away from some of our prejudices. I know all of us have some.”

AmherstCollege – Dec 7, 2021

Philosopher, cultural theorist, and writer, Kwame Anthony Appiah, visited campus as part of the Presidential Scholars Program at Amherst College: “What Is Racism? One Story.” During his three day residency, Appiah met with students, faculty and staff, and presented two lectures.

Appiah’s new and acclaimed book, “The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity,” explores the nature and history of our identities (including gender, religion, race, and nationality) and how each defines us. Much like in his weekly column for The New York Times Magazine, “The Ethicist,” Kwame’s talks are brilliant and informed, and offer much-needed guidance on how to bridge political divides. He takes an in-depth approach to exploring our identities and what they mean in a contemporary context: and how we can challenge our inherited assumptions and adapt to changing values through progressive, open dialogue.

Learn more about the Presidential Scholars Program: https://www.amherst.edu/news/events/p…

Presidential Scholar:

Kwame Anthony Appiah

Anthony-Appiah

Amherst College

Presidential Scholar – October 28 – 31, 2021

How do our identities shape what we value—in ourselves, and others? How does what we legislate and create reflect our ideals as a society? A renowned ethicist and professor of philosophy and law at NYU, Kwame Anthony Appiah is known for his innovative work in the field of cultural differences and political philosophy. Raised in Ghana and educated at the University of Cambridge, Kwame has witnessed a broad spectrum of the social, economic, and political forces that shape ethics in this age of international exchange. What do we tell ourselves about who we are—and who others are? How can we shed harmful patterns of identity politics and groupthink, to access growth that’s good for everyone?

His new and acclaimed book, The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity, explores the nature and history of our identities (including gender, religion, race, and nationality) and how each defines us. Much like in his weekly column for The New York Times Magazine, “The Ethicist,” Kwame’s talks are brilliant and informed, and offer much-needed guidance on how to bridge political divides. He takes an in-depth approach to exploring our identities and what they mean in a contemporary context: and how we can challenge our inherited assumptions and adapt to changing values through progressive, open dialogue.

Kwame Anthony Appiah’s Schedule

Thursday, October 28

7:30 p.m. Point/Counterpoint: Reckoning with our Racial Past, A Conversation with Adolph Reed and Kwame Anthony Appiah, moderated by Prof. Nishiten Shah (Johnson Chapel)

Friday, October 29

10:00 a.m. Meeting with CHI Fellows
11:00 a.m. Meeting with the Philosophy Department faculty
12:00 p.m. Lunch with Philosophy Department

Saturday, October 30

11:00 a.m. Office Hours (Center for Humanistic Inquiry, Frost Library) Sign up for office hours
1:00 p.m. Meeting with Amherst College Black Student Union
4:00 p.m. Keynote address, “What Is Racism? One Story,” with introductions by President Biddy Martin (Lipton Lecture Hall)

See related:

View Professor Appiah’s complete Amherst lecture:

and

Reckoning with Our Racial Past: A Conversation with Kwame Anthony Appiah and Adolph Reed Jr.

By Holland Cotter = Dec. 12, 2021

Robert Farris Thompson, a self-described “guerrilla scholar” who revolutionized the study of the cultures of Africa and the Americas by tracing through art, music and dance myriad continuities between the two, died on Nov. 29 at a nursing home in New Haven, Conn. He was 88.

The cause was Parkinson’s disease complicated by Covid-19, his daughter, Alicia Thompson Churchill, said.

Born into an upper-middle-class white family in Texas and educated at Yale, Professor Thompson is remembered by colleagues and students for his energizing thinking and his extravagantly performative presence.

In the Yale classroom, where he taught African American studies for more than half a century, he turned lecterns into percussive instruments. On research trips in Brazil, Cuba and Nigeria, he was known to exchange his J. Press madras shorts for the robes of an initiate into tribal religious societies.

…(read more).

See related statement concerning the importance of Robert Farris Thompson for African Studies at Yale and the world as a whole:

Participants:

Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (Chair) and Honored W. E. B. Du Bois Lecturer: Professor John Thornton

Daily Archives: December 16, 2021