Equality, Privilege Are Topics for April 19 Forums
Contact: Judith Josiah-Martin, (207) 581-1437
ORONO — “Beyond Blame, Shame & Guilt – Thinking rather than feeling about privileged systems” is the title of public and student forums at the University of Maine on Tuesday, April 19, featuring internationally known activists Peggy McIntosh and Victor Lewis.
The public forum, free and open to the public, is scheduled at 12:15 p.m. in Hauck Auditorium. A student forum is scheduled at 3:30 p.m. in D.P. Corbett Business Building’s Room 100. The Division of Student Affairs, the Counseling Center and Peer Education Program and UMaine’s Multicultural Center are presenting the speakers.
Judith Josiah-Martin, director of multicultural programs at UMaine, says the forums are particularly helpful for society because of the opportunity to look at privilege “without getting bogged down in the blame-shame thing, which paralyzes us and prevents us from taking responsibility to change things.”
“That’s why I think it’s not just for students,” she adds.
Peggy McIntosh, a lecturer and writer on white privilege, male privilege and equitable curricula, is the associate director of the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women. She consults with higher education institutions throughout the United States and the world on creating multi-cultural and gender-fair curricula.
McIntosh is the author of many influential articles on curriculum change, women’s studies and systems of unearned privilege. She is best known for authoring the groundbreaking article “White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences through Work in Women’s Studies.” Her analyses have been instrumental in putting the dimension of privilege into discussions of gender, race and sexuality.
Victor Lewis, a leader in the field of anti-oppression diversity work and alliance-building, is an internationally recognized educator, trainer and activist. He has conducted keynote speeches, seminars, workshops and “train the trainer” programs throughout the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Germany. Lewis is currently co-director of the Center for Diversity Leadership, a human relations training and consulting firm.
He is best known for his inspiring and catalytic leadership role in the award-winning race relations documentary, “The Color of Fear.” Lewis is co-author of a four volume curriculum to be used in conjunction with the film. He also is a contributor to the anthology, “Crash Course: Reflections on the Film ‘Crash’ for Critical Dialogues about Race, Power and Privilege.”