Racial, ethnic and gender equality in the aftermath of Pres. Barack Obama's election will be the focus of an upcoming symposium that will bring scholars from around the country to UNL.
From Nov. 3 to 5, UNL's Political Science Department will host the G.E. Hendricks Symposium "The Challenge of Inequality in the Age of Obama: Does Race Still Matter?" All panel discussions will be in the Nebraska Union and are free and open to the public.
The symposium will gather scholars from across the country and across disciplines for public discussions and debates about how Obama's election affected inequalities on multiple fronts, said event organizer Michael Combs, a UNL political scientist.
"From news accounts and conventional wisdom, the jubilation of the Obama age has encountered the harsh realities of structural and institutional inequities in America," he said.
The discussions will address how Obama's election has influenced identity politics, multi-racial coalitions, immigration policies, public opinion, interest groups and mass movement behavior. Additionally, scholars will pose theories seeking to explain inequality in various areas of American society. They'll also present research that examines the role of courts, law and social discourse in the challenge of inequality.
The symposium is made possible through the University of Nebraska's Hendricks Fund. Alumnus and attorney G.E. Hendricks established it in 1976 to support the exploration of current controversial political questions in a nonpartisan, unbiased manner. Hendricks believed that a more intelligent examination and consideration of political questions would lead to better government.
The symposium also receives support from UNL's Office of Equity, Access and Diversity Programs, the College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of the President of the University of Nebraska.
- Jean Ortiz Jones, University Communications