Two advocates for racial justice and equality and First Amendment rights will be the online panelists for a Constitution Day event from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Guest speakers for the public virtual event on Teams include Selika Ducksworth-Lawton, UW-Eau Claire professor of history and women’s, gender and sexuality studies; and George Williams, professor of visual arts at Beloit College.
Ducksworth-Lawton is a board member of the Chippewa Valley-American Civil Liberties Union Wisconsin and was named by Madison365 as one of Wisconsin’s most influential black leaders.
Williams has been an active racial justice participant and in 2004 became the college’s first-ever tenured black professor. In 2019, he received the local YMCA’s annual Racial Justice Award. In conjunction with the Beloit School District, he organized and for 10 years was a member of a program tutoring and mentoring young people in the community.
The online panel will be in an interview and conversation format with an opportunity for audience questions.
Sept. 17 is Constitution Day, which marks the signing of the U.S. Constitution in 1787 in Philadelphia.
The event is sponsored by the UW-Stout Menard Center for the Study of Institutions and Innovation, Center for Applied Ethics and Dean of Students. Tim Shiell, director of the MCSII, will host. For an invitation to the Teams event contact Shiell at shiellt@uwstout.edu. Anyone can join the event even if they do not have Teams.
MCSII holds an event honoring Constitution Day each year because of the crucial role civil liberties play in the document, its amendments, and our democratic system of government, Shiell said.
“Our 2020 topic is ‘Racial Injustice and the First Amendment’ because of the continuing race-related protests and counter protests around the country,” Shiell said. “At a time when many people believe racial justice and the strong First Amendment rights are in fundamental conflict, when peaceful protests too often devolve into violence (according to a study, 93% of recent protests have been peaceful while 7% involved some level of violence), and when bearing arms has become a common practice during protests, it will be fascinating to hear their views and responses to audience questions.”
MCSII also has an upcoming online discussion from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29, on “Banned Books Week: Banned Books and Orwell’s ‘1984.’” The main speaker is James Tager, deputy director of free expression research and policy at PEN America, the leading defender of the expressive rights of writers, editors, playwrights, poets, etc. The respondents are Rickie-Ann Legleitner and Laura McCullough of UW-Stout. Legleitner is an English professor and director of the women, gender and sexuality studies program who will discuss her use of banned books in her classes. McCullough is a professor of physics who will discuss her research on the silencing and censorship of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The MSCII’s mission is to promote the study and discussion of civil liberties and related institutions and innovations through scholarly inquiry, educational activities and community outreach. The center is the hub for a statewide network of more than 20 universities and colleges funding speakers, panels and debates; conferences and symposiums; faculty and student research; student internships; workshops and reading groups, and much more.
The mission of the Center for Applied Ethics is to increase and enhance ethics across the campus community. UW-Stout offers an applied ethics certificate to empower professionals to apply ethical theory and reasoning in the workplace.
UW-Stout is Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University, with a focus on applied learning, collaboration with business and industry, and career outcomes.
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Photos
Selika Ducksworth-Lawton
George Williams
