By Staff Writer

The Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning is hosting Associate Professor Dr. Willie James Jennings of the Yale Divinity School for its Faculty in Conversation Series.

“Teaching the Fragments – Shared Learning as Antiracist and Decolonial Practice” will be held on Monday, October 18, from 12 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. EDT and is part of the Antiracist Pedagogy series, which focuses on professors who incorporate antiracist practices into their teaching.

Dr. Jennings is an Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies, whose book, The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race (Yale 2010) won the American Academy of Religion Award of Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Constructive-Reflective category the year after it appeared and, in 2015, the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, the largest prize for a theological work in North America. His commentary on the Book of Acts, Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate (for the Belief Series, Westminster/John Knox) received the Reference Book of the Year Award from The Academy of Parish Clergy in 2018.

The first 20 registrants will receive a copy of Jennings’ book most recent book, After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging (Eerdmans, 2020), ahead of the talk. Discussion will focus on Chapter 1, exploring how the “fragments of colonization have shattered our worlds,” followed by a discussion of the question: How might an instructor decolonize the syllabus and the hierarchies of a discipline to ensure student belonging? Participants will have opportunities to ask questions and reflect on how the practices translate to their classrooms.

The Faculty in Conversation Series: Antiracist Pedagogy brings people together to listen, reflect, and exchange ideas, and the Poorvu Center is excited to facilitate these discussions. “Dr. Jennings has a ton of expertise to share, as a nationally recognized speaker on education, and we are so lucky to have a discussion with him in this intimate environment” says Julie McGurk, Director, Faculty Teaching Initiatives.