Banned Ideas: Challenges and Opportunities in the Current Political Climate A Roundtable Session at the 56th NeMLA Annual Convention

March 6-9, 2025

Philadelphia, PA

NEMLA 2025 theme is "(R)EVOLUTION”, submission deadline (UPDATED): October 15, 2024

This session is sponsored by the Diversity Caucus.

Across the United States, state and local governments have passed or are in the process of passing legislation that bans teaching topics related to racism, gender, and sexuality. Attacks on critical race theory and LGBTQ studies are no longer conceptual threats to academic freedom in higher education but are being actualized through the policing of curriculum and changes to the faculty hiring and tenure practices. Many of us whose research and teaching are informed by commitments to diversity, inclusion, and social justice find ourselves wondering how to do our work in this increasingly hostile political climate.

This roundtable invites scholars and teachers invested in dismantling white supremacy, misogyny, homophobia and transphobia to consider the challenges and opportunities of this moment. How can institutions make space for productive and strategic discussions about protecting academic freedom? What are some of the key challenges faced at public institutions? How do we protect the psychological safety of students, faculty, and staff from minoritized backgrounds who feel imperiled by these measures?

Submit abstract here: https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/21281

Direct questions to Ann Marie Short: ashort@saintmarys.edu