Roundtable Seminar

The topic of the Fall 2022 Roundtable is Racial Justice viewed through intersectional perspectives. Our focus in this Valente Center Roundtable Seminar on Racial Justice will be on selected works of fiction, non-fiction, and film representing Black lives and Black voices.  Materials for the seminar may also include excerpts from tv series, music, and other cultural products.  Our goal will be to explore how the issue of "race" and racial justice in contemporary culture intersects with issues concerning ethnicity, gender, law, politics, citizenship, immigration, and environmental justice. Participants, including students, staff, and faculty members, will come together weekly to read and discuss works that engage with the ongoing crisis of racial justice, and also place the crisis within the context of earlier public debates about these interlinked issues.

In this course, students will develop or build on emerging presentation and reading and analysis skills through engagement with the texts and the corresponding assignments. Classroom methods will include discussion, student presentations, a midterm, and a reflection paper at semester's end. 

The seminar meets on Wednesdays 11:00 - 1:50pm in the Honors/Valente Lounge, AAC 247. The Valente Center covers the cost of all books as well any other activities as selected by students and faculty.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION STATEMENT
 
This course is diversity intense. It is the intent that students from all diverse backgrounds and perspectives be well-served by this course, that students' learning needs be addressed both in and out of class, and that the diversity that the students bring to this class be viewed as a resource, strength and benefit. It is the intent to present materials and activities that are respectful of diversity: gender identity, sexuality, disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, nationality, religion, and culture. Your suggestions are encouraged and appreciated. 

How to apply:

Send a brief statement to the Valente Center - between 400 to 500 words - explaining why you want to participate, a copy of your Degree Works Summary (available on Workday).

Email Now

Our focus in this Valente Center Roundtable Seminar on Racial Justice will be on selected works of fiction, non-fiction, and film representing Black lives and Black voices.  Materials for the seminar may also include excerpts from tv series, music, and other cultural products.  Our goal will be to explore how the issue of "race" and racial justice in contemporary culture intersects with issues concerning ethnicity, gender, law, politics, citizenship, immigration, and environmental justice. Participants, including both students, staff, and faculty members, will come together weekly to read and discuss works that engage with the current crisis of racial justice, and also place the crisis within the context of earlier public debates about these interlinked issues.
 
In this course, students developed or built on emerging presentation and read and analyzed skills through engagement with the texts and the corresponding assignments. Classroom methods included discussion, student presentations, a midterm, and a reflection paper at semester's end. 

Faculty: Ernesto Schirmacher (Department of Mathematics), Johannes Eijmberts (Department of Global Studies), Ralph Pennel (Department of English and Media Studies), Katie Leahy (Bentley University Library)

How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Moshin Hamid

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

How do we measure success? Is it accumulated wealth? Is it emotional well-being and happiness? This course will broadly investigate the corruptibility or incorruptibility of the human spirit when the influences of cultures that prioritize pursuits of financial and cultural capital press upon us in nearly all social, personal and professional contexts. We will examine these themes in a variety of ways through a wide range of media, including two novels, films, podcasts and other literatures that explore the concerns expressed by the themes and their greater interpersonal and sociopolitical impacts. In this course, students will develop or build on emerging presentation and reading and analysis skills through engagement with the texts and the corresponding assignments. Classroom methods will include discussion, student presentations, a midterm, and a reflection paper at semester’s end.

Grades for the seminar are based on participation, a reflection paper and a final research paper. The seminar meeting time is Wednesdays from 11:00 a.m. to 1:50 p.m. The Valente Center provides lunch and covers the cost of all books as well as the cost of trips to local cultural events and dinners as selected by students and faculty.