Project News

Soccer coach Ron Jans and racism? The Netherlands is hard to imagine, but in America the term he used is more than a word. 

That has a historical reason. For centuries, black Americans were dehumanized by white countrymen with that n-word. It was intended to put them inferior, and was often accompanied by brutal violence. ,, This word can have such a deep, almost physical impact on people. It is so permeated with violence, with negative history, with the dehumanization of brown and black people, "describes Neal Lester, an English professor at Arizona State University who is researching the n-word. "Too many people think that if you sing or quote a song, you can."

Neal A. Lester has always looked beyond his classroom walls, beyond disciplinary definitions, to exemplify the importance of the humanities.

Neal A. Lester has always looked beyond his classroom walls, beyond disciplinary definitions, to exemplify the importance of the humanities.

Are_the_Humanities_Really_In_Crisis.pdf

Arizona State University’s Project Humanities partnered with the Black Theatre Troupe, a multi-ethnic performance organization, to honor author Toni Morrison in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The sun is barely over the Phoenix horizon one morning in June, but the temperature already is inching its way to 105 degrees. Despite the heat and the early hour, about 150 men and women experiencing homelessness line up along the sidewalk spanning 12th Avenue between Jefferson and Madison streets.

ASU Professor Neal A.Lester brings diverse people together to examine these questions as part of Project Humanities, a unique, donor-supported, community-oriented ASU initiative. Read about his work on page 18.

Hair is ASU English professor Neal Lester’s domain. He’s studied it, written about it, and he recently sat down with The Show to talk more about why hair means a lot more than we think.

About peeling back and shedding the layers and layers of our consciously and unconsciously learned behaviors and attitudes that prevent us from experiencing the richness of diversity, tolerance, and acceptance, anti-racism educator and activist Jane Elliott contends that “what we learn, we can unlearn.”

Sometimes parents wish they could have a conversation do-over with their kids. A “big talk” can smack us in the face when we least expect it. This week’s Parental Advisory question comes from the parent of a child who, at 6 years old, heard and subsequently used the N-word for the first time. But did they handle it the best way possible?