Emerson College’s Teach-In on Race is an annual event hosted by Academic Affairs and the President’s Office in coordination with the Social Justice Collaborative. Featuring nine sessions on Feb. 7 and 8, the event intended to engage the Emerson community in discussion around a themed topic related to diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and social justice, as well as questions about racism, white supremacy, and oppression. This year’s theme was “A ‘New Normal’ Just Won’t Do: Intersectionality in the Arts and Communication.”
The two-day hybrid event kicked off with a faculty-only session led by Jae William ’08, executive-in-residence of business of creative enterprises, in the SPC Black Box. The session focused on organizing an inclusive and vibrant classroom and fostering curiosity and a passion for learning in students.
Grace Talusan, author and lecturer at Brown University, gave this year’s keynote address. She is the author of “The Body Papers,” which won the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing and the Massachusetts Book Award for Nonfiction and was a New York Times Editors’ Choice selection. The keynote address was an invite-only event in The Judee Wales Watson Theater, but was professionally recorded and live-streamed to the rest of the Emerson community.
In one of Wednesday’s sessions, the Dean’s Fellows for Racial Equity and Leadership Development hosted a Jubilee-style discussion on race. The student leaders kicked off the discussion by raising the question “Is a hotdog a sandwich?” and helped facilitate open and respectful conversations about controversial topics. Participants moved to stand in different areas of the room depending on their level of agreement with each statement and then talked about what led them there.
On Thursday, Emerson Prison Initiative (EPI) Director Mneesha Gellman hosted a Teach-In on the opportunities education provides incarcerated people and how it is necessary to disrupt the social hierarchies that often lead to people being left behind while in the criminal legal system. The talk featured views from a former EPI student and a question segment for community members to ask questions.
Writing, literature, and publishing Chair Roy Kamada interviews Grace Talusan after her keynote speech on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. (Arthur Mansavage/Beacon Staff)
A stack of Grace Talusan’s award-winning book, “The Body Papers,” is on display outside of The Judee Wales Watson Theater. (Arthur Mansavage/Beacon Staff)
An Emerson College student performs in The Judee Wales Watson Theater before Grace Talusan’s keynote speech. (Arthur Mansavage/Beacon Staff)
Grace Talusan gives the keynote speech for the eighth annual Teach-In on Race on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. (Arthur Mansavage/Beacon Staff)
Filmmaker Rahman Oladigbolu talks about the Nigerian film industry in the Beard Room during the Teach-In on Race event “Boundary-Crossing and Boundary-Breaking Through International Filmmaking with Rahman Oladigbolu” on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024.
Mneesha Gellman, left, director of the Emerson Prison Initiative, and Mac Hudson ’23, right, discuss the significance of education in prison, and the role of Emerson’s EPI program in offering educational opportunities to incarcerated learners at the Teach-In on Race event “Unlocking Learning: Education in Prison” on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (Madla Walsh/Beacon Staff)
Students take notes as they listen to the presentation at the Teach-In on Race event “Unlocking Learning: Education in Prison” on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (Tilley Winokur/Beacon Correspondent)
Yasser Munif, right, and Nancy Allen, left, faculty of the Marlboro Institute for Liberal Arts Department, speak at the Judee Wales Watson Theater at the Teach-In on Race event “Considering Identity in Effective Course Cultivation” on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (Annie Zhou/Beacon Staff)
Students and faculty participating in the jubilee during the Teach-In on Race event “Is a Hot Dog a Sandwich?” on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, unanimously agree that race, gender, and socioeconomic class intersect. (Madla Walsh/Beacon Staff)
Nancy Allen engages in discussions with student attendees at the Judee Wales Watson Theater during the Teach-In on Race event “Considering Identity in Effective Course Cultivation” on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (Annie Zhou/Beacon Staff)
