Episode 134 - Controversy of Thought: Stephen C. Finley
Dialogue on Teaching, Wabash Center’s podcast series, is hosted by Nancy Lynne Westfield, Ph.D., Director of the Wabash Center. Amplifying the Wabash Center’s mission, the podcasts focus upon issues of teaching and learning in theology and religion within colleges, university, seminaries, as well as the publics impacted by these schools. Dialogues with faculty and administrators working in the wide range of institutional contexts illumine the complexity of teaching and the teaching life.
What does it mean when scholars of religion are forbidden from teaching about racism? Who is harmed and what problems are created when sophisticated and common-sense approaches to race are part of the curricular experience? In what new ways is tenure necessary for scholars who risk teaching critical race theory? Dr. Finley’s work on whiteness is sparking controversy in and beyond his Louisiana State University classroom. As a scholar of religion, what preparation is needed for the moments our work spills-over into the larger society and provokes social discourse with the potential to catalyze social change? Scholar, who told you that you could think freely, think boldly, and think imaginatively? What is it to garner the courage to do the scholarly work our souls must have?