Race – The Theory

Geoffrey Harpham is a literary scholar and intellectual historian. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Tulane University, and Duke University. From 2003 to 2015, he was president and director of the National Humanities Center. His longstanding scholarly interests include the role of ethics in literary study, the place of language in intellectual history, the history of education, the place of scholarship in the contemporary world, and the history of the race concept.

Abstract:

“Especially considering the enormous historical importance and contemporary currency of the subject of race in today’s society, the concept of race is an under-researched subject. The texts that established this concept as an object of scientific knowledge are not widely known, deeply studied, or adequately understood. I will be speaking about the experience of creating an archive of those texts, and indicating some of the conclusions that can be drawn from that archive.”

The event will begin at 12.15 pm. It will also be streamed online via Webex; please click here to join the live stream.

Everybody is welcome to attend!