Language, Race, and Ethnicity Lecture Series – Spring 2021

Kendra Calhoun University of California, Santa Barbara

In a virtual lecture:

• Topic:Language and race in higher education: Discourses of diversity in the U.S. academy
• Date: April 21, 2021
• Time: 3:00pm – 4:15pm MST
  

[Register to attend this virtual lecture by filling out the Webinar Registration Form]

“Diversity and inclusion” are often central concepts in discussions of racial progress in higher education, but research has shown that the language used to talk about diversity can be counterproductive to that goal. In this talk, I analyze two types of discourse about diversity in U.S. higher education: institutional discourse on college and university websites and data from interviews with graduate students of color at two U.S. universities. I discuss how institutional discourse simultaneously shapes and is shaped by ideologies about race, identity, and difference, and how students of color use a variety of linguistic strategies in interaction to challenge claims made in institutional discourse. By juxtaposing the two, I demonstrate the relationship between language, ideology, and practice with regard to race and inequality at colleges and universities.

Program Support

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Idaho Humanities
Council, a State-based partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this series do not necessarily represent those of the Idaho Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.