The Sawyer Seminar Se ries\, convened by Department of African and African American Studies and t he Center for the Humanities\, examines how Black studies can help sustaivn academic freedom and reimagine democratic higher education. The seminar un folds through a yearlong series of themed conversations that bring together faculty\, students\, community partners and national leaders. Collectively \, participants will examine how Black studies — an interdisciplinary field that draws from disciplines such as anthropology\, education\, history\, l iterature\, political science\, psychology and sociology to understand stru ctures of power\, inequality and resistance — is a vital framework for unde rstanding the past\, navigating the present and shaping the future of highe r education.
This opening seminar will set the tone for the year by positioning academic freedom as a critical\, evol ving and contested concept — one that must be understood historically\, con tinually reimagined in response to changing realities and defended structur ally. Central to our discussion will be Black studies scholars whose work h ighlights how academic freedom is shaped by power\, identity and institutio nal politics.
Angela Davis is Distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of California\, Sant a Cruz.
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