From Progressive to Problematic: A Community Conversation Series

The Frost Center for the Environment, The Knapp Social Science Center, The Suzy Newhouse Center for the Humanities, and the Department of Women's and Gender Studies are thrilled to present this four-part series of lunchtime lecture series. As a small, liberal arts institution, Wellesley is well-suited to foster deep and meaningful interdisciplinary conversations. Such conversations are essential for knowledge production that can have a meaningful impact on on not only our disciplinary spaces through research and teaching, but also beyond the academy. 

We want to focus on movements, broadly construed. All of our disciplines contain and/or are structured around “isms” – the concepts and theories that define many of our fields. But the way that these “isms” are defined and understood differs across disciplines. This needs to be explored. And, while the theorists who initially coined and adopted the “isms” in question may have seen their genesis as progressive and liberatory, “isms” are today viewed with skepticism as their exclusionary roots and histories have been theorized, in addition to greater attention being paid to the ongoing co-opting of “isms” by capitalist, political, media, and other structural powers. We have chosen topics that we think will be relevant and connected to current affairs, of interest to our community, and with the promise of attracting audiences from all parts of the College community. Our four topics are: 
 

Session 1: What's the Problem with Nationalism?
Thu. September 19th, 12:45-2:00pm
Tishman Commons

Speakers: Faisal Ahmed (Political Science), Brenna Greer (History), Ismar Volić (Mathematics)
Moderator: Banu Subramaniam (Women's and Gender Studies)
Interlocutors: Kellie Carter Jackson (Africana Studies), Smitha Radhakrishnan (Sociology)

For many, nationalism marks anti-colonial social movements and the formation of an independent nation state. In certain cases, however, decades after the formation of nation states, some are in the throes of ethnic and religious nationalism that exclude and discriminate against minority groups. Moreover, nationalism is not a concept wholly restricted to human populations, but rather transcends into xenophobic and nativist litmus tests of plants and animals. 

How then should we understand nationalism in the afterlives of colonialism and slavery? What does it mean to be a nation state on the global stage? How do nations categorize their populations? What constitutional or extra-constitutional measures are invoked to enable the political elite? How do ideals of democracy translate into the process of democratic governance? How have progressive constitutions of democracy and pluralism been co-opted into authoritarian regimes? Nationalism is rich territory to explore the complex geopolitics of today.

Session 2: What's the Problem with Data-ism?
Thu. October 17th, 12:45-2:00pm
Tishman Commons

Panelists: Emily Harrison (WGST), Eni Mustafaraj (Computer Science), Priscilla Torres (Political Science)
Moderator: Jenny Musto (WGST and Knapp Social Science Center)
Interlocutor: Julie Walsh (Philosophy and Newhouse Center)

This panel explores the promises and pitfalls of data-ism - how a growing emphasis on data-driven decision-making and the rise of digitization are disrupting what it means to study politics, health, and the environment, among other pressing issues shaping our moment. 

Boosters of data-ism champion its disruptive potential, emphasizing the explanatory insights and predictive potential of digitizing information and transforming it into more precise data-driven decisions. Yet the assumption that amassing bigger data translates into better, more equitable outcomes has been fiercely contested over the last two decades, with scholars across various fields drawing attention to the biases that shape data-ist impulses and the harms emanating from data practices. Despite the myriad problems that surround it, a focus on data-ism is generative, surfacing timely questions about trust, evidence, expertise, and accountability and how scholars across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities are grappling with its effects. It also prompts critical reflection and foundational questions about how different fields are grappling with the definition and assumptions that animate ideas of data, questions like: What is meant by data within and across disciplines? Can data be trustworthy? Foster cooperation and democratic governance? How can data collection and data-driven decision-making become more egalitarian? What are some of the data deserts within disciplines and what can be done to shrink them? 

Session 3: What's the Problem with Environmentalism?
Thu. February 6th, 12:45-2:00pm
Tishman Commons

Session 4: What's the Problem with Feminism? 
Thu. March 6th, 12:45-2:00pm
Tishman Commons

All events are open to all members of the Wellesley College community.

Lunch will be provided. Pre-registration is required. Click here to register.