Two lectures address issues of equality

Two speakers will visit campus to discuss equality, class, race, gender, and privilege. The lectures, together entitled “Unveiling Inequality,” are free and open to the public.

On Wednesday, Nov. 6, Paula Rothenberg will present “Classless, Color-Blind and Gender-Neutral: How the Rhetoric of Equality Protects Privilege and Obscures Hierarchy,” at 7:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union Lakefront Cafe. On Thursday, Nov. 7, Allan Johnson will present “Unraveling the Gender Knot,” at 8 p.m. in 1100 Grainger Hall.

Rothenberg is director of the New Jersey Project on Inclusive Scholarship, Curriculum, and Teaching, a statewide, state-funded, curriculum transformation project. She is a professor of philosophy and women’s studies at William Paterson University of New Jersey, where she has taught since 1969.

She is the author of “Invisible Privilege: A Memoir About Race, Class, and Gender,” “Race, Class, and Gender in the United States” and “White Privilege: Essential Readings About the Other Side of Racism.”

Johnson is a sociologist, writer, teacher and public speaker who addresses issues of privilege, oppression, and social inequality. He teaches at Hartford College for Women of the University of Hartford. As a white male, Johnson is concerned with reaching white people, especially men, who may feel uncomfortable with issues of privilege.

He has written numerous books, including “The Forest and the Trees: Sociology as Life, Practice, and Promise,” “The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology: A User’s Guide to Sociological Language,” and “Human Arrangements: An Introduction to Sociology,” “The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy,” and “Privilege, Power, and Difference.”

“There is an incredible lack of consciousness as to how power and privilege operate in our society,” said Amanda Gengler, the event’s organizer. “We hope these lectures initiate that spark of critical thinking around the complex social world in which we are all embedded. Then the community can begin to challenge those inequalities that often remain unspoken.”

During their stay in Madison, Rothenberg and Johnson will also present at a symposium geared toward improving curriculum and teaching around issues of inequality. The symposium is full.

The lectures are sponsored by PREA (Promoting Racial and Ethnic Awareness); funded by Associated Students of Madison (ASM), Multicultural Council (MCC), Teaching Assistants’ Association, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, University Health Services; and co-sponsored by the Afro-American Studies Department, Asian Pacific American Council (APAC), Plan 2008 Campus Climate Sub-Committee, Chadbourne Diversity Mission Group, Education Academic Services, Equity and Diversity Resource Center (EDRC), Femsem (Sociology department gender brown bag), Freedom, Generation 2008, Graduate Student Council, Greek Community, Hillel, Multicultural Student Coalition (MCSC), Multicultural Student Center (MSC), Retention Action Project (RAP), School of Education, School of Social Work, the Sociology Department, and the Women’s Studies Program.