Deliberation and Liberal Learning

In 2009-2010, the Deliberation and Liberal Learning series will focus on two questions central to the liberal arts: how we can engage new technologies of communication and representation effectively? and how can we re-tell narratives of Western culture so that they are honestly inclusive -- both of marginalized peoples and of the oppressions and struggles those people have faced? Beta of Colorado will co-sponsor workshops drawing together constituencies from across the College in order foster discussion of these challenging topics.

"Avatars Reborn" In the fall, Beta of Colorado, partnering with the Crown Faculty Center and Educational Technology Services, will welcome distinguished classicist James J. O'Donnell to campus. In addition to being an expert on the philosophy and culture of late antiquity, Professor O'Donnell has served as Vice Provost of Information Technology and Computing at the University of Pennsylvania and has received wide recognition for his efforts to understand how digital technology has been changing higher education. Today, Professor O'Donnell is the Provost of Georgetown University. His 2005 book, Augustine: A New Biography, has been hailed for bringing about a fundamental rethinking of the life and work of Augustine of Hippo. Following the pattern set by our 2008-2009 workshops,    our    fall    workshop    with    Provost
O'Donnell will focus on new ways of learning.		Provost James J. O'Donnell, Georgetown University.

Building on his seminal 1998 work, Avatars of the Word: From Papyrus to Cyberspace, Provost O'Donnell will lead us to reflect on how the new digital technologies that he first explored more than a decade ago continue to challenge us to re-imagine liberal arts learning. The workshop will take place on Wednesday, 4 November, 3:30-6 in Gates Common, Palmer Hall. (Note that the date has been corrected.)

		"Race and Liberalism" Our spring event will once again focus on questions and problems that have traditionally been neglected in the academy. Specifically, we will reflect on the place of race and racism in the development of liberal societies. Our workshop leader will Charles W. Mills, the John Evans Professor of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy at Northwestern University. Professor Mills' expertise is in the general area of social and political philosophy, particularly in oppositional political theory as centered on class, gender,   and   race.   His   first  book, The Racial
Professor Charles W. Mills, Northwestern University.		Contract  (Cornell  University,  1997),  won a Myers  Outstanding  Book  Award for the  study of

bigotry and human rights in North America. It has been adopted in courses at more than 100 campuses across the United States, not only in philosophy, but also in political science, sociology, anthropology, African-American studies, and race relations. His second book, Blackness Visible: Essays on Philosophy and Race (Cornell University, 1998), was a finalist for the award for the most important North American work in social philosophy of that year. He also recently co-authored Contract and Domination (Polity Press, 2007) with noted feminist theorist Carole Pateman and is currently working on a collection of essays, Radical Theory, Caribbean Reality: Race, Class, and Social Domination.

Drawing on his expertise on the philosophy and history of race, Professor Mills will lead what we expect will be a provocative workshop on the theme of "Race and Liberalism," Friday, 26 February, 3:30-6 p.m. in Gates Commons, Palmer Hall. Beta of Colorado will co-sponsor the event with the Philosophy Department and the Crown Faculty Center, with major support from the Cultural Affairs Fund of the Office of the President.