Dr. Kwame Anthony Appiah

Society Matters: why should we value the Humanities?
In partnership with the Royal Society of Canada

Saturday, May 28, 2021
12:00 to 13:00
Margaret Norrie McCain Hall, Noel Kinsella Auditorium

Universities today exist in a complex and sometimes uncertain environment. Our institutions are at the centre of a digital revolution that is transforming the way we learn and interact. It is turning human creativity into a powerful asset for a globalized world. Navigating the halls of North America’s institutions and campuses, today’s authors and scholars are inventing a new narrative about the civic, cultural and social value of their work.

For this Big Thinking lecture, Dr. Kwame Anthony Appiah, a world renowned philosopher, cultural theorist and novelist, explores the ramifications of this rich new narrative. A humanist with a vast oeuvre, Dr. Appiah has tackled everything from race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, religion, nationhood, and multiculturalism.  Along the way, he has critically examined and questioned the individual, our identities, and the way we interact and connect with each other. He will look at the value of the humanities in the context of an increasingly globalized and pluralist world.

Dr. Appiah has taught philosophy and African-American studies at the University of Ghana, Colombia, Drexel, Cornell, Yale, Harvard, and Princeton and is currently the Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University. He is the President of the PEN American Center and the Chair of the board of the American Council for Learned Societies.