May. 27, 2021
CWU to Host Loretta J. Ross at Calling In the Call Out Culture Webinar
On June 4, Central Washington University will hold a virtual lecture and workshop hosted by human rights leader, women and gender studies professor, author, and activist Loretta J. Ross.
The lecture, entitled “Calling In the Call Out Culture,” will focus on the ways in which public shaming, or calling out, can create a toxic environment that discourages open discourse and wastes opportunities for meaningful, educational conversation.
The public lecture will be held via Zoom on Friday, June 4 from 1 to 2 p.m., with time for attendee questions. It will be followed by an intensive two-hour workshop at 2:15 p.m., which will offer deeper engagement with the material and more opportunities for practice and questions from the audience. Those interested in attending the workshop, can register for it here.
Ross has been an activist since 1970, taking part in anti-apartheid and anti-gentrification efforts in Washington, DC. Since then, she has played an instrumental part in multiple social justice reform efforts and earned an honorary Doctorate of Civil Law from Agnes Scott College in 2003.
She has also co-written three books on reproductive justice: Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice; Reproductive Justice: An Introduction; and Radical Reproductive Justice: Foundations, Theory, Practice, Critique.
Her lecture will cover content to be featured in her upcoming book, Calling In the Calling Out Culture, which will be released later this year.
Ross has defined “Call Out” culture as part of a cycle of outrage and anger, marking those who hold certain viewpoints as irredeemable and blocking the path to meaningful conversation in doing so. By calling in those we disagree with, as opposed to calling them out, she believes we can engage in discourse free of the animosity that comes with public shaming and move toward the ultimate goal of a society free of fear and prejudice.
For more information about Loretta J. Ross, visit her website.
Media contact: Rune Torgersen, Department of Public Affairs, rune.torgersen@cwu.edu.