On the Ethics of Teaching Race

Thompson’s talk focuses on race as a potential subject of instruction and analyzes ethical matters related to placing race on the curriculum in this way. In doing so, it highlights the possibility of coherence between some of the more popular approaches to teaching race as a subject. At its core, the talk considers whether and how these approaches to race as a subject of instruction might be compatible with one another. In doing so, it will explore varied understandings of race and the complexity of racial identity formation as a pedagogical goal. Given the bounty of existing work on the subject, it will also provide a brief overview of arguments for and against what is commonly understood as antiracist education.