#0: Introducing We The Pupils

White folks today have not been involved in chattel slavery, so why might they have an obligation to contribute to reparations for slavery? Didn't slavery happen too long ago for reparations to be justified? Do reparations mean that white folks have to feel guilty for slavery? In part 2 of Charles Mills's interview (The Graduate Center, CUNY), he and the students offer answers to some objections sometimes made against reparations. Prior to this recorded conversation, students read and discussed: "The Political Economy of Personhood," by Charles Mills (2015); and "The Case for Reparations," by Ta-Nehisi Coates (The Atlantic, 2014). For an overview of normative issues regarding  black reparations, see "Black Reparations," by Bernard Boxhill (2010/2015). This episode was recorded in the Spring 2018, before the protests for racial and social justice that have defined 2020 in the US and beyond. It bears noting that Joe Biden, the president-elect, pledged to support a study of reparations during the campaign. We The Pupils is produced by Jules Salomone-Sehr. It was made possible by a Public Humanities Fellowship funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and supervised by the Center for the Humanities (The Graduate Center, CUNY). Theme music: Vanache. Special thanks to: Alisa Besher, Jordan Lord, Sampson Starkweather, Kendra Sullivan, and the students of Hunter College.

What are reparations? What case can be made for the claim that racial injustices should be repaired? And what are some of the objections and practical obstacles to the enactment of reparations? In this episode and the next, students explore these questions with Charles Mills (The Graduate Center, CUNY). Prior to this recorded conversation, students read and discussed: "The political economy of personhood," by Charles Mills (2015); and "The Case for Reparations," by Ta-Nehisi Coates (The Atlantic, 2014). In his introductory words, you'll hear Charles Mills refer to John Rawls's A Theory of Justice (1971, Belknap). Charles Mills's recent Tanner Lecture on Human Values (University of Michigan) is available here. This episode was recorded in the Spring 2018, before the protests for racial and social justice that have defined 2020 in the US and beyond. It bears noting that Joe Biden, the president-elect, pledged to support a study of reparations during the campaign. We The Pupils is produced by Jules Salomone-Sehr. It was made possible by a Public Humanities Fellowship funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and supervised by the Center for the Humanities (The Graduate Center, CUNY). Theme music: Vanache. Special thanks to: Alisa Besher, Jordan Lord, Sampson Starkweather, Kendra Sullivan, and the students of Hunter College.

This is part 2 of the students' conversation with Linda Alcoff (Hunter College & The Graduate Center, CUNY). (TW racist violence: 20:27 till 22:46.) Prior to this recorded conversation, students read and discussed: A Theory of Race, by Joshua Glasgow (Routledge, 2009); and "Towards a phenomenology of racial embodiment," by Linda Alcoff (Radical Philosophy, 1999). In the conversation, you'll hear references to: Michel Foucault (especially Discipline and Punish), Merleau-Ponty (cited by Linda Alcoff in her paper), James Baldwin, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Sandra Bartky. This conversation was recorded in the Fall 2017, before the protests for racial and social justice that have defined 2020 in the US and beyond. It is as relevant today as it was back then. We The Pupils is produced by Jules Salomone-Sehr. It was made possible by a Public Humanities Fellowship funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and supervised by the Center for the Humanities (The Graduate Center, CUNY). Theme music: Vanache. Introductory words: Fitch and Vall. Special thanks to: Alisa Besher, Jordan Lord, Sampson Starkweather, Kendra Sullivan, and the students of Hunter College.

What are races and racial groups? Do they even exist? In this first two-part episode, students engage in conversation with Linda Alcoff (Hunter College & The Graduate Center, CUNY) and explore race and racial embodiment. (TW racist violence: 24:08 till the end.) Prior to this recorded conversation, students read and discussed: A Theory of Race, by Joshua Glasgow (Routledge, 2009); and "Towards a phenomenology of racial embodiment," by Linda Alcoff (Radical Philosophy, 1999). In the conversation, you'll hear Linda Alcoff refer to the work of Robert Gooding-Williams (Columbia University), Paul C. Taylor (Vanderbilt University), Gerald Torres (Yale University), and Claude Steele (University of California, Berkeley). This conversation was recorded in the Fall 2017, before the protests for racial and social justice that have defined 2020 in the US and beyond. It is as relevant today as it was back then. We The Pupils is produced by Jules Salomone-Sehr. It was made possible by a Public Humanities Fellowship funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and supervised by the Center for the Humanities (The Graduate Center, CUNY). Theme music: Vanache. Introductory words: Fitch and Vall. Special thanks to: Alisa Besher, Jordan Lord, Sampson Starkweather, Kendra Sullivan, and the students of Hunter College.

We The Pupils is a social and political philosophy podcast recorded in the classroom, at Hunter College (City University of New York). In every episode, undergraduate students take the driver’s seat and engage in conversation with world-renowned philosophers. Together, we explore social and racial justice with the tools of contemporary philosophy. Topics will include: race and racial embodiment, epistemic injustices, reparations and corrective justice. We The Pupils is produced by Jules Salomone-Sehr. It was made possible by a Public Humanities Fellowship funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and supervised by the Center for the Humanities (The Graduate Center, CUNY). Theme music: Vanache. Special thanks to: Alisa Besher, Jordan Lord, Sampson Starkweather, Kendra Sullivan, and the students of Hunter College.