In recent years, issues of race, neighborhood equity, education and politics have topped news cycle coverage on TV news, social media platforms and print news publications.
That’s why on Thursday, April 16 Wednesday Journal is partnering with Dominican University’s school of education to host a community talk exploring the intersections of society, diversity and academia. The discussion will be held at 7 p.m. at the university’s Lund Auditorium inside the Performing Arts Center, 7900 W. Division St.
“A Conversation with Dr. Eve L. Ewing: Education, Equity and Justice from Original Sins to Superheroes,” will feature Ewing, an acclaimed author, sociologist and professor at the University of Chicago, whose work centers on the issues of racism, inequality and urban education.
In addition to receiving her master’s degree in teaching from Dominican in 2009, Ewing holds a master’s degree in educational policy and management from Harvard University (where she served as editor and co-chair of the Harvard Educational Review). With a combination of work experience as an educator at both the elementary and university level, Ewing is currently an associate professor at the University of Chicago, where she teaches courses on race, education and Afrofuturism.
Outside the classroom, Ewing has authored numerous books, most recently “Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism,” which explores the idea that America’s school system has historically reinforced the idea of white intellectual superiority and an upholding of the U.S.’s racial hierarchy. A New York Times and USA Today bestseller, the book was also named a “Best Book of the Year” by The New Yorker, Esquire, Elle and the Chicago Public Library, and was longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal.
Ewing has also published poetry collections, written “Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago’s South Side,” and been involved in several projects for Marvel Comics, including the “Black Panther,” “Exceptional X-Men” and the “Ironheart” series. Ewing has also co-written a young adult graphic novel, “Change the Game,” alongside former NFL quarterback and American civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick, and the short story “Timebox” with award-winning singer and actor Janelle Monae.
Dr. Sara Rezvi, an assistant professor of education at Dominican, will moderate the conversation with Ewing. Rezvi, whose research focuses on integrating social justice and cultural responsiveness into math education, works to address systemic inequities and explore identity formation.
“Is the purpose of education just to learn reading, writing and arithmetic, or is it something greater than that?” Rezvi said. “I think that’s a question we’re trying to interrogate at the School of Education. As a Hispanic-serving institution, we’re preparing teachers to support students of color and those who are immigrants — all of this is intertwined, as you can’t become an educator in this current sociopolitical moment without recognizing that your silence is complicity and you either respond to it or are invoking cognitive dissonance.”
Rezvi says that since Dominican does its best to uphold its Sinsinawa order tradition of justice, the university is the ideal place to host the discussion on these topics.
“This goes beyond DEI language — we’re talking about a spiritual stance, a justice-oriented stance, a faith-oriented stance, in a time when people of color are being kidnapped off the streets because of who they are perceived to be, which scares me,” she said. “Like all suburbs in Chicago, [Oak Park and River Forest] have very historical antecedents that are still very present to this day about redlining, segregation, gentrification. This conversation is a conversation with both the present and the past because the past does not go away; it still fractures into the present.”
Dr. Josephine Sarvis, associate dean in the education school, says Dominican is proud to host Ewing not just as an alumna but because she says her work has greatly contributed to shaping national conversations about education and equity.
“Ewing’s work challenges us to confront the history of education while also imagining a more just and hopeful future for our schools and communities,” Sarvis said.
“[The discussion is] not meant to convince you of one thing or the other, they’re just meant to instigate a conversation,” said. Rezvi. “All of these things are very important in a city like Chicago which we think of as very progressive and liberal but in fact is one of the most segregated cities in the country. She really does a beautiful job of articulating and analyzing in ways that are coherent to the everyday layman who is not in education research.”
Tickets are $15 for the general public, $10 for Wednesday Journal subscribers and donors, and free for Dominican students and staff. To purchase tickets, visit dom.edu/arts-minds.