W&L’s Mudd Center for Ethics to Host Equality and Difference Lecture Series
“We really wanted to do a series that would allow us to approach some questions about the meaning and value of equality.”
Washington and Lee University’s Mudd Center for Ethics begins its 2017-18 lecture series: Equality and Difference on Sept. 28 at 5:30 p.m. in Lee Chapel. The first lecturer is Tariq Ramadan, HH Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani professor of contemporary Islamic studies at Oxford University. Ramadan’s talk is titled: “Equality as a Social Requirement and Human Ideal.” The series is free and open to the public.
The Mudd Center was established in 2010 through a gift to the University from award-winning journalist Roger Mudd, a 1950 graduate of W&L. By facilitating collaboration across traditional institutional boundaries, the center aims to encourage a multidisciplinary perspective on ethics informed by both theory and practice.
This is the fourth series of its kind facilitated by the Mudd Center. Previous years’ themes have included Markets and Morals (2016-17), The Ethics of Citizenship (2015-16), and Race and Justice in America (2014-15).
The yearlong series will feature nine speakers from across disciplines and career fields to cover a range of equality issues. Topics include group-based disparagement humor, moral values surrounding pregnant women, and immigration.
“We really wanted to do a series that would allow us to approach some questions about the meaning and value of equality,” said Angela Smith, director of the Mudd Center. “What does it mean to treat each other as equals in moral or political or social life?”
The series also reaches across W&L curricula, and Smith believes the recent events in Charlottesville make discussions around equality even more pertinent.
Click to hear Smith share her thoughts on the Equality and Difference lecture series:
Equality and Difference speaker dates and times are:
- Thursday, Sept. 28, 5:30 p.m.: Tariq Ramadan (Lee Chapel)
- Tuesday, Oct. 3, 12 p.m.: Julie Woodzicka (Hillel Multipurpose Room)
- Thursday, Oct. 26, 5 p.m.: T.M. Scanlon (Stackhouse Theater)
- Wednesday, Nov. 8, 5 p.m..: Maggie Little (Hillel Multipurpose Room)
- Thursday, Nov. 30, 5 p.m.: Laura I. Gomez (Stackhouse Theatre)
- Thursday, Jan. 25, 5 p.m.: Devon Carbado (Stackhouse Theatre)
- Thursday, Feb. 8, 5 p.m.: Suzan-Lori Parks (Stackhouse Theatre)
- Wednesday, Feb. 14, 5 p.m.: Katherine Boo (Stackhouse Theatre)
- Thursday, March 8, 5 p.m.: Miranda Fricker (Hillel Multipurpose Room)
