The Conference on the Semantics and Ethics of Racial Language will be held today from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Gertrude Ford Ballroom at the Inn at Ole Miss by the Department of Philosophy and Religion in conjunction with other departments.
Following a number of incidents last year at The University of Mississippi that involved racial slurs and topics of racism, Professor Donovan Wishon took it upon himself to start the conference in an effort to highlight the importance of exploring racial language within the context of human philosophy and interaction.
Wishon joined Ole Miss’ Department of Philosophy in the fall of 2012 after earning his doctorate at Stanford University. The conference was inspired by Wishon’s interest in furthering the knowledge of philosophy students on diversity.
“It would be of great interest to the philosophy students at UM,” Wishon said. “Many of the brightest minds in philosophy today are not the stereotypical old caucasian males.”
Wishon said the faculty’s efforts to arrange the conference resulted in an interdisciplinary line up of regional experts doing cutting-edge research on the semantics and ethics of language.
The first portion of the conference will cover the nature of racial slurs from the perspective of recent work in linguistics, philosophy of language and psychology. The second part will look at the ethical and social dimensions of racial language in an attempt to understand the moral implications its use has with respect to individuals, groups and society as a whole.
Some of the co-sponsors of the event include the departments of African-American studies, modern languages, sociology and anthropology, the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs amongst others.
Assistant Provost of Mathematics Donald Cole will be giving the opening remarks. Keynote Speaker Dr. Ravi K. Perry, assistant professor of political science and Stennis Scholar for Municipal Governance at Mississippi State University, will be speaking alongside Dr. Allison Burkette, professor of linguistics, and Dr. Luvell Anderson, assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Memphis.
Anderson views the conference as a good opportunity to share his knowledge on his research subject, semantics and ethics of racial language. Dr. Anderson will be answering questions regarding racial slurs during the conference.
Negar Akhundi, a teaching English as a second language graduate student, said she is attending the conference to further update her teaching skill set and increase her awareness of the subject matter.
Dr. Felice Coles, professor of linguistics, encourages all students to attend the conference as it discusses an important part of language and culture in a sociolinguistic context.
To view the full agenda of the conference, visit https://sites.google.com/site/raciallanguagesymposium/.
