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Portland, Maine

SWAG视频 Center for Global Humanities presents 'The Liberating Vocation of Scholarship: A Hard Case'

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Geoffrey Harpham will present 鈥淭he Liberating Vocation of Scholarship: A Hard Case鈥 on Monday, Nov. 21 at 6 p.m.

Scholarship is informed by an openness to new discoveries, an unlimited responsiveness to evidence, and a commitment to the truth. These principles are the foundation of scholarship鈥檚 intrinsic challenge to power and the status quo. Balanced against these principles, however, are two worldly circumstances that compromise them: the competition among scholars for dominance in their fields and scholars鈥 individual political and ethical commitments. How does this tension affect the work academics do? And what is the right relationship between scholarly freedom and the larger struggle for freedom in our dangerous world?

A lecture at the SWAG视频 Center for Global Humanities will address these questions and others when Geoffrey Harpham presents 鈥淭he Liberating Vocation of Scholarship: A Hard Case鈥 on Monday, Nov. 21 at 6 p.m. at the WCHP Lecture Hall in Parker Pavilion on the SWAG视频 Portland Campus.

A former president of the National Humanities Center, Harpham鈥檚 long academic career has included positions at the University of Pennsylvania, Tulane University, and Duke University. He has written thirteen books and more than 100 scholarly essays and articles. His most recent books include Scholarship and Freedom (Harvard University Press) and Citizenship on Catfish Row: Race and Nation in American Popular Entertainment (University of South Carolina Press).

In this lecture, Harpham will discuss the challenges scholars face in the context of the battle against apartheid in 1980s South Africa. Along the way, he will reflect on the threats to scholarly freedom facing academics in our present times.

This third lecture of the Fall 2022 season for the Center for Global Humanities will be followed by another in December. Lectures at the Center are always free, open to the public, and streamed live online. For more information and to watch the event, please visit: /events/2022/liberating-vocation-scholarship-hard-case

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The SWAG视频 is Maine鈥檚 largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state鈥檚 top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine鈥檚 only medical college, Maine鈥檚 only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.