Welcome Back and Upcoming Events 2022
Another semester has begun at the University of Maryland, and all of us at the Bahai Chair are so excited for everything that is to come. I am starting my final year of graduate school, and I am especially looking forward to welcoming Fall and some cooler weather to College Park. Finally, we can welcome speakers and guests in person once again while continuing to offer virtual options as well so our events can be enjoyed by everyone.
The lineup of lectures and conferences this semester are particularly topical and thought-provoking. We are excited to create opportunities for deep thinking and reflection which apply to the larger world around us. We are also excited to share fascinating research and ideas from incredibly smart and innovative scholars.
Our first event is on September 8th. Starting off this semester strong, we will be offering both in-person and virtual access to our Systemic Racism in America Roundtable. The in-person event will be held at 7 pm in the Colony Ballroom, Stamp Student Union, and participants will be asked to wear a mask. This roundtable discussion will feature the editors, Professor Hoda Mahmoudi and Professor Rashawn Ray, and two contributors, Professor Prudence Carter, Sarah and Joseph Jr. Dowling Professor of Sociology at Brown University, and Professor Odis Johnson, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University, to the volume Systemic Racism in America: Sociological Theory, Education Inequality, and Social Change. For a refresher or deeper look at any of the chapters, feel free to read my Edited Volume Read Along, where I have been making my way chapter by chapter through this poignant volume highlighting and situating systemic racism in our national history and contemporary context.
Our next event will follow soon after, on September 13th, from 1-2:30 pm. This is the Annual lecture and will be held virtually. The chair is welcoming Professor Martha S. Jones to give a talk titled Democracy, Voting Rights and Black Women as the Vanguard. Dr. Jones will discuss the ways in which contests over voting rights troubled the United States from its very start. She will highlight how black women's leadership on the right to vote reveals how contests over the character of the body politic have challenged every generation and how we might look forward.
There will be two events in October. The first is an in-person and virtual event called “Experiencing men’s world” with Dr. Manon Garcia. The event will take place on October 5th at 2 pm. The lecture will center around the theme of socialization and its impact on women as they learn and grow, as well as how patriarchy shapes women’s lives. The second event in October will be held virtually, on October 18th at 2 pm. Professor Ingrid Robeyns will speak with us about “In this world on fire, what can limitarianism bring us?”. Dr. Robeyns holds the Chair in Ethics of Institutions at the Ethics Institute of Utrecht University.
Our final event will be held on November 1st at 2 pm, the location is to be confirmed. Professor Susanna Heschel will give a lecture centered on the theme of antisemitism. Dr. Heschel is the Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College. Her scholarship focuses on Jewish and Protestant thought during the 19th and 20th centuries, including the history of biblical scholarship, Jewish scholarship on Islam, and the history of anti-Semitism.
You can find out more information about these lectures and register to attend on our website.
Be sure to follow us on social media @bahaichair to stay updated on all we have planned, and we look forward to seeing you at our events!
About the Author
Stella Hudson is a Graduate Assistant with the Baha’i Chair for World Peace. She graduated from the College of William and Mary in 2021 with a B.A. in English. She is attending the University of Maryland and pursuing a Master’s of Library and Information Science.