Author and activist Peggy McIntosh will present a lecture, “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack: Privilege, Education, and the Vision of Achieving Inclusion,” at Whitworth University on Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. in the Robinson Teaching Theatre in Weyerhaeuser Hall.
McIntosh consults with higher-education institutions worldwide on creating multicultural and gender-fair curricula, according to a press release.
Prior to her Whitworth lecture, McIntosh will spend the day meeting with students, faculty and staff to explore the reality of privilege associated with the constructs of race, gender and sexuality, and the corresponding implications for inclusive education.
“Whitworth has been doing deep reflective work on building inclusiveness at the university and I am pleased to be invited to share in its next steps,” McIntosh said in a press release.
During her campus visit, McIntosh said she will relate the ways she came to identify white privilege and the methods she uses to weaken systems that reward unearned power.
McIntosh is the author of many influential articles on curriculum change, women’s studies and systems of unearned privilege. She is best known for authoring the groundbreaking article “White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences through Work in Women’s Studies,” according to a press release.
Whitworth Assistant Vice President for Diversity and Intercultural Relations Larry Burnley hopes community members who hear McIntosh’s lecture will come away feeling challenged and compelled to think more deeply about the ways they benefit from or are disadvantaged by various forms of power and privilege.
“The goal is to offer participants an experience that will result in critical thought and self-reflection that will enhance their ability to honor God, follow Christ and serve humanity,” Burnley said in a news release. “Students and others who hear McIntosh speak will be given the opportunity to have their own unconscious privilege and bias brought to a conscious level.”
The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Carolina Beck at (509) 777-3434 or [email protected].
I remember reading “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” for the first time years ago and feeling challenged and uncomfortable, in a good way. It invited me to consider my personal privilege and be more aware of privilege in general.
But I recently participated in a discussion with a black activist who expressed her disdain for the “Invisible Knapsack” essay. She pointed to this piece (http://the-toast.net/2013/07/24/ally-phobia-the-worst-of-best-intentions/) as a good articulation of why many people of color don’t appreciate Ms. McIntosh’s approach.
Definitely, an important conversation to have. I hope to make it to Whitworth on February 6.