The Public Square, a program of the Illinois Humanities Council, is working with the Asian American Resource and Cultural Center at UIC and the Jane Addams Hull House Museum to address some of the issues raised by the recent Jeremy Lin phenomenon. What’s behind all the hype? What does this moment say about sports, identity and the cultural landscape in America? How can we use this moment to talk about the issues we should be talking about?
We asked a number of critically engaged scholars, authors, and educators locally and nationally to share their thoughts – whether it involves race and racism, masculinity or gender issues, sports as a reflection of society, media criticism or other things they’ve been mulling about recently.
Their responses, included below, will be discussed during a discussion moderated by WBEZ’s Alison Cuddy on Monday, March 12th (the day of the New York Knicks/Chicago Bulls game!).
The impressive list of contributors:
Mark Anthony Neal, Associate Professor of Black Popular Culture in African-American Studies at Duke University and author ofNew Black Man: Rethinking Black Masculinity.
–“J-Lin and the African-Americanization of Youth Culture” by Mark Anthony Neal
David Zirin, named one of UTNE Reader’s “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Our World” and writes about the politics of sports for the Nation Magazine.
-“Jeremy Lin’s inspiration” by David Zirin
Claire Jean Kim, Associate Professor of Political Science and Asian American Studies at University of California, Irvine.
-“The Great Yellow Hope” by Claire Jean Kim
Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai, spoken word artist featured in three seasons of the award-winning “Russell Simmons Presents HBO Def Poetry”
-“The Forest for the Trees” by Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai
Kimberly Springer, Associate Professor, Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies at Ohio State University.
-Thought piece by Kimberly Springer
Dave Stovall, Associate Professor of Policy Studies and African-American Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also teaches an urban sociology class at the Lawndale Little Village School for Social Justice.
-“The Feel Good Story in the Racial Frame” by David Stovall
Alison Cuddy hosts Weekender with Alison Cuddy, a weekly guide to getting out of your house – and your neighborhood! As a long-time WBEZ host-producer-blogger, she covers the cultural scene in Chicago and beyond.
–Alison will be moderating the discussion, plus posting the written pieces along with her own commentary on her WBEZ blog.
Alden Loury is a senior investigator with the Better Government Association. He was previously a reporter, editor and publisher of The Chicago Reporter.
-“Thank God for Jeremy Lin” by Alden Loury
This program is co-sponsored by The Public Square, the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum and the Asian American Resource and Cultural Center at UIC.
Free and open to the public. For more information please call 312.422.5580.
If you need a sign interpreter or require other arrangements to fully participate, please call 312.422.5580. For parking locations near the facility, please visit ChicagoParkingMap.com.
Views and opinions expressed by individual scholars in this program do not necessarily state or reflect those of partner organizations, the Illinois Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, or the Illinois General Assembly.