Hamline University announced last week that it will host a national forum titled “Academic Freedom and Cultural Perspectives – Challenges for Higher Ed Today and Tomorrow” on Tuesday, Sept. 12.
The forum will draw a panel of nationally recognized experts together to examine the intersection of academic freedom and diverse cultural perspectives – two principles that are foundational to higher education. Preceding the panel discussion, the forum will feature a keynote address by renowned professor and bestselling author Dr. Michael Eric Dyson.
Below you will find information on the panelists’ accomplishments and areas of expertise:
Michael Eric Dyson is a renowned professor who has taught at prestigious universities like Princeton, Brown and Georgetown, and is now a Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt. In addition to his academic pursuits, Dyson is also a gifted writer and media personality. He has authored over 25 books, including seven New York Times bestsellers, and has won numerous awards for his literary contributions, including the 2020 Langston Hughes Medal and two NAACP Image Awards. Dyson’s work spans a wide range of topics, including civil rights, hip-hop, Black culture and politics. His most recent book, Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America, has been described as a “searing cry for racial justice” and a “sweeping overview of racism in America.” Dr. Dyson is also a prominent public intellectual, known for his insightful commentary on race, social justice and culture.
Robin DiAngelo is an affiliate associate professor of education at the University of Washington. Her area of research is in whiteness studies and critical discourse analysis, tracing how whiteness is reproduced in everyday narratives. In 2011 she coined the term “white fragility” in an academic article which has influenced the international dialogue on race. Her book, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism was released in June of 2018 and debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List, where it remained for over three years and has been translated into 12 languages. Her follow-up book, released in June of 2021, is titled Nice Racism: How Progressive White People Perpetuate Racial Harm. Her work or interviews have been featured in the New York Times, The Guardian, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, NPR, PBS and The BBC, among many other forums. In addition to her academic work, Dr. DiAngelo has been a consultant, educator and facilitator for over 20 years on issues of racial and social justice.
Stacy Hawkins is Vice Dean and Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School, where she teaches courses in constitutional law, employment law and an original seminar on diversity and the law. Her scholarship focuses on the intersection of law and diversity and has been published in the Fordham Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, the Michigan Journal of Race and Law, UCLA LawReview Discourse and the Columbia Journal of Race and Law, among others. She is a recognized expert on employment law and diversity and has been interviewed or quoted in various national news outlets. Prior to teaching, Hawkins spent more than a decade in private practice advising clients in both the public and private sector on the development and implementation of legally defensible diversity policies and programs. As an employment lawyer, Hawkins has counseled and defended employers in a wide range of legal matters, including labor relations, employment discrimination, wage and hour compliance and affirmative action planning.
David Schultz is a Distinguished University Professor of Political Science and Legal Studies at Hamline University, where he teaches a wide range of American politics classes including public policy and administration, campaigns and elections and government ethics. Schultz is also a professor in the Hamline and University of Minnesota Schools of Law where he teaches election law. He is the author of 30 books and hundreds of articles on various aspects of American politics, election law, and media. He is regularly interviewed and quoted in the local, national and international media, including the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Economist and National Public Radio. His most recent books are Presidential Swing States: Why Only Ten Matter and Election Law and Democratic Theory. A three-time Fulbright scholar who has taught extensively in Europe, Schultz is the 2013 Leslie A. Whittington national award winner for excellence in public affairs teaching.
Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and educators in the United States. He has spent the past 25 years speaking to audiences in all 50 states, on over 1,500 college and high school campuses, at hundreds of professional and academic conferences, and to community groups across the country. Wise has also trained corporate, government, entertainment, media, law enforcement, military and medical industry professionals on methods for dismantling racial inequity in their institutions and has provided anti-racism training to educators and administrators nationwide and internationally. Wise is the author of nine books, including his latest, Dispatches from the Race War. Wise has contributed chapters or essays to over 25 additional books and his writings are taught in colleges and universities across the nation. His essays have appeared on AlterNet, Salon, HuffPost, Counterpunch, The Root and Z Magazine among other popular, professional and scholarly journals.
The Academic Freedom and Cultural Perspectives forum will be held in Hamline University’s Anderson Center on Tuesday, Sept. 12 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. The event will also be livestreamed. The event is free and open to the public, but an RSVP is required by Sept. 5.
For more information and to RSVP, visit hamline.edu/academic-freedom.
