Scripps College’s Core Curriculum in Interdisciplinary Humanities will host American Indian scholar and activist Ward Churchill on Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m., in Garrison Theater at the Scripps College Performing Arts Center, 231 E. 10th St. Churchill’s lecture, “Colonialism=Genocide: Applying the Sartrean Equation to the U.S Context,” is free and open to the public.
In 1967, Jean-Paul Sartre famously arrived at the conclusion that colonialism equals genocide. Exploring both of these concepts—genocide and colonialism— Churchill will assess the applicability of the Sartrean formulation within the context of the United States, both historically and currently, with an emphasis on the treatment of American Indian nations.
Churchill is a prolific American Indian scholar/activist, a member of the Rainbow Coalition Council of Elders, and former member of the leadership council of the American Indian Movement of Colorado. He has written numerous books on the politics of imprisonment, government repression of radical movements, as well as indigenous history, the devastating impact of American Indian boarding schools and other genocidal U.S. policies. Five of his more than 20 books have received human rights writing awards.
Chair of the Ethnic Studies Department until July 2007, Churchill was Professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Colorado/Boulder, where he received numerous awards for his teaching and service. In April 2009, Professor Churchill won a lawsuit against the University of Colorado in which the jury unanimously found that CU had violated his First Amendment rights by firing him in retaliation for his observations concerning 9/11. The courts have refused to enforce this verdict on the grounds that the University has absolute immunity from being sued for violating the Constitution.
For more information, contact Sarah Ramsey, sramsey@scrippscollege.edu or (909) 621-8326.