Intellectual Freedom, Social Responsibility, and Praxis in Librarianship and Education

Register for this webinar!

Intensified battles around book bans, censorship, public and school library funding, Critical Race Theory, African American Studies pedagogy, gender identity, and sexual orientation are at fever pitch across the country, raising critical questions about the nature of intellectual freedom, the purpose of literacy and education, the dissemination of information, and the interrelationships among them. The pervasiveness of these issues also illuminates how race and racism continues to structure key conversations and contexts about information access, pedagogy, and the historical record. 

What is behind this most recent wave of the longstanding challenges to intellectual freedom, historical reckoning, and “dangerous ideas” in America? How does it connect or stand apart from previous repression and suppression of information, literacy, and history? And how can the related professions of librarianship and education inform one another’s efforts to uphold information access, historical integrity, and democratic principles? This panel will dig into these key questions and help contextualize, inform, and ignite our collective understanding and advocacy in these areas. Please join us!

Panelists:

• Nicole Cooke, Augusta Baker Endowed Chair, School of Information Science, University of South Carolina
• Carolyn Foote, Co-Founder of FReadom Fighters
• Johannah Genett, Deputy Director, Hennepin County Library
• Robin D.G. Kelley, Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in U.S. History, University of California, Los Angeles

This webinar is presented by Social Responsibilities Round Table (SRRT), a Round Table of the ALA.