“Great Works, Bad Behavior:
The Humanities In the Age of #Cancel Culture”
This month, Dr. Westman invites friend/colleague, Dr. Joana Owens from Jacksonville University for a conversation on Cancel Culture.
“Cancel culture” is a politically loaded term that has generated recent headlines for many areas of our society, including college campuses. When it comes to course content, should the works of individuals who have said or done things widely considered morally objectionable today be taught differently than they typically have been taught in the past—or even ever completely removed from syllabi? What about the works of those who are the target of accusations related solely to incomplete or complicating evidence? What criteria should professors use when making these kinds of decisions? Should they use different standards depending on whether the individual is a long-dead historical figure or one of our contemporaries? And what is the student’s position in these debates—what if a student objects to an assignment based on sincerely-held objections to the relevant content and/or creator? Dr. Owens will introduce a few examples of how these types of questions have been relevant to her own teaching and research, and she looks forward to engaging Rutgers students in thoughtful conversation about the issues.
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://rutgers.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAld-yqqT4sGd2QM8D_eHugfPqNPSGofoLz