Stephen Salaita Will Present 2025 Baldwin Lecture: The Meaning of Academic Honesty
Photo: UMass Department of History
Source: UMass Department of History
Stephen Saliata, Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the American University in Cairo, will present the 2025 James Baldwin Lecture entitled The Meaning of Academic Honesty, on Wedensday April 16 at 6 p.m. at the UMass Old Chapel and over Zoom. A public Q&A will follow, with books available for purchase from Amherst Books following the event. Closed captions will be available on Zoom and the event will be recorded. The event is free and open to all. Registration is encouraged. The talk is part of the Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series. The theme of this year’s series is “What Are Universities For?”
In this talk, Steven Salaita will draw on his recent memoir, An Honest Living, to explore questions of honesty and dishonesty on campus. Is it possible for a professor to pursue an honest living? What might it look like? Conversely, are there forms of dishonesty that can be considered ethical or necessary amid the predominant cultures of academe? Salaita will consider these questions through analysis of labor, inequality, alienation, and political violence on and off campus.
About the James Baldwin Lecture
The James Baldwin Lecture addresses issues connected to social, economic, and political justice and underpinnings in institutional racism. The lecture honors the late James Baldwin, who taught at UMass for several years. Offered every other year, the James Baldwin Lecture is organized by the UMass Amherst W. E. B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies and the Department of History, and co-presented by the College of Humanities and Fine Arts. It was established by and made possible with generous support from history department alumnus Allen J. Davis ’68. This year’s James Baldwin Lecture is also co-sponsored by the Josephine White Eagle Cultural Center, and it is presented as part of the 2024-25 Feinberg Series.
About the Feinberg Series
Organized by the UMass Amherst history department, the Feinberg Series is a student- and community-oriented event series exploring major social issues in historical perspective. Titled What Are Universities For? Struggles for the Soul of Higher Education, the 2024-25 series brings together students, scholars, and community organizers to trace the historical roots of the crises in U.S. higher education and propose solutions for debt-saddled students, resource-starved communities, and others whose lives and futures depend on this bedrock social institution. The series is made possible thanks to the generosity of UMass Amherst history department alumnus Kenneth R. Feinberg ’67 and associates. Visit the Feinberg Series website for details and co-sponsors, and to view recordings of past events.