Peggy McIntosh, feminist author, researcher, and gender/racial equity activist, will engage the Scripps community in two days of small group meetings, classroom visits, administrative sessions, and public lectures centering on discussions of privilege systems and feelings of fraudulence. Dr. McIntosh is associate director of the Wellesley Centers for Women, founder of the National SEED Project on Inclusive Curriculum (Seeking Educational Equity & Diversity), and co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Women’s Institute. Read more about Dr. McIntosh and her work in this article from The New Yorker.
There are several public events associated with Dr. McIntosh’s visit, and community members are encouraged to attend as many as they are able.
Please note that some events require RSVPs because of limited space.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
FirstGen Workshop
2:30 – 3:30 p.m., Mary Routt Memorabilia Room, Balch Hall
First generation college students at Scripps are invited to join Professor McIntosh for a conversation about their individual and shared experiences on campus. Space is limited, so please RSVP to Lindsey Martinovich in the Dean of Students office ([email protected]) if you would like to participate.
SCORE Workshop
4:00 – 5:30 p.m., SCORE Living Room
Join Professor McIntosh in the SCORE Living Room for an informal, small group discussion about experiences with diversity and inclusion. Space is limited, so please RSVP to [email protected] to reserve your place.
Public Lecture and Discussion: Phase Theory
7:30 – 9:00 p.m., Humanities Auditorium
Most white, middle-class citizens see society from a monocultural perspective, a perspective that assumes, often unconsciously, that persons of all races are in the same cultural system together. This single-system form of seeing the world, is blind to its own cultural specificity. People who see persons of other races monoculturally cannot imagine the reality that those “others” think of themselves not in relation to the majority race but in terms of their own culturally specific identities. McIntosh has proposed an “interactive phase theory” that is intended to illustrate progression towards heightened levels of consciousness concerning race. RSVP not required for this event.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Feminist Activist Coffee Hour
10:00 – 11:30 a.m., Hampton Living Room, Malott Commons
The Intercollegiate Feminist Center for Teaching, Research and Engagement will host coffee with Professor McIntosh. All are invited to join her for an informal conversation about her work. Space is limited, so please RSVP to [email protected] by October 27 to reserve your place.
SCORE Workshop: Feeling Like a Fraud
4:00 – 5:30 p.m., SCORE Living Room
Join Professor McIntosh in the SCORE living room for an informal, small group discussion about feelings of fraudulence and imposter syndrome. Space is limited, so please RSVP to [email protected] to reserve your place.
Public Lecture and Discussion: Privilege Systems
7:30 – 9:00 p.m., Humanities Auditorium
In much the same way that men are not taught to acknowledge all the ways they are privileged in society, whites are not taught to recognize how their status as white people confers on them many privileges. Arguing that male privilege and white privilege are interrelated, and that both types of privilege are unearned and unjustified, McIntosh discusses several layers of denial about privilege that work to protect, prevent awareness about, and entrench that privilege. She holds that all the various interlocking oppressions take two forms: an active form which can be seen; and an embedded form which members of the dominant group are taught not to see. To redesign the social system therefore requires acknowledgement of its colossal unseen dimensions. RSVP not required.
For more information on any of these events, please contact the office of Public Events and Community Programs at (909) 607-9372 or by emailing [email protected].
Read more about Diversity and Inclusion at Scripps College.