Racial violence and settler colonialism explored in new human rights lecture – TRU Newsroom
KAMLOOPS — Feminist critical race scholar Dr. Sherene Razack tackles issues around colonialism and racial violence in the Inaugural Dean of Arts Distinguished Lecture on Human Rights and Social Justice at Thompson Rivers University (TRU).
In conjunction with TRU’s new interdisciplinary Master of Arts in Human Rights and Social Justice program, Razack’s lecture, Unimaginable Fury: Settler Colonialism and White Men’s Violence Against Indigenous Women, explores the need to understand how what is done to Indigenous women’s bodies supplies the settler and the settler state with power.
Razack’s interdisciplinary research and teaching focus on racial violence. She is the founder of the virtual research and teaching network, Racial Violence Hub. Her publications, including six single-authored books, examine settler colonialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism and global white supremacy.
This free, in-person event is open to students, alumni, faculty and the public. Registration through Eventbrite is requested as space is limited. If attendees have accessibility requirements, they can contact [email protected] by Tuesday, Feb. 21.
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 28
Time: 7 – 9 p.m.*
Location: Campus Activity Centre, Mountain Room (third floor)
Free parking is available on-site: Lot H, Lot N, and Lot NT.
Opening remarks by TRU Provost Gillian Balfour
“It will be impossible to decolonize unless we begin to name and analyze the nature, function and extent of white men’s violence against Indigenous women,” says Razack. “This violence is seldom explicitly named as white men’s violence. We miss something very significant about settler colonialism when the violence against Indigenous women that occurs in sex work, policing, the justice system and in a myriad of everyday encounters is not acknowledged. What we miss is the very core of how the colonial project is made, namely an aggressive, anti-Indigenous white masculinity, a self-making that is accomplished directly on the Indigenous woman’s body and given social and legal approval.”
“The Faculty of Arts is delighted to have esteemed scholar and fearless social commentator Dr. Sherene Razack present on a topic of critical importance to the university and larger public discourse on violence against Indigenous women,” says Dean of Arts Richard McCutcheon. “She has been an inspiration to students, faculty and the public for her courageous research and willingness to publicly tackle social injustice wherever she sees it. The urgency of Dr. Razack’s topic is made evermore stark by the revelations of the unmarked graves at the former residential school on the grounds of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc.”
*Dr. Razack is available to speak to the media shortly before the lecture.
Contact:
Kim Van Haren, Communications Content Specialist
University Relations, Thompson Rivers University
778-471-8389 | [email protected]
About Dr. Sherene Razack:
Prior to joining the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2016, Razack was a professor of critical race and gender studies in the Department of Social Justice at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. She is currently a Penny Kanner Endowed Chair in Women’s Studies in the Department of Gender Studies at UCLA.