Jackson Center List Fall 2023 Events  

Fast Fashion is Trash, Literally

Erin Hall, Sewist & Fashion Designer
Thursday, September 14, 2023
4:30 pm in Wall 116, the Johnson Auditorium

Abstract: Maker, sewist, and fashion designer Erin Hall presents an interactive journey into fast fashion. She will share how industry garments move from idea to creation to distribution in as few as 10 days. Participants will touch and compare fast fashion garments to their “slow” counterparts and learn how “cheap” clothes are made, as well as what happens to the 81.5 pounds of clothing the average consumer throws away each year.

Are We Better Off Without the Major Western Religions?

Christian Miller, Wake Forest University
Thursday, October 12, 2023
4:30 pm in Wall 116, the Johnson Auditorium

Abstract: Some prominent writers, such as Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins, have claimed that human beings would be better off without religion (especially Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) because of all the harm that religious belief has produced over the centuries. Their argument is not that these religions are false, but that they are bad for us. In this talk, Dr. Christian Miller will cast some doubt on their argument from the perspectives of both philosophy and empirical research on religion. In particular, many studies in recent years have suggested that society could be better off with some level of (reasonable) religious belief, rather than without it. 

How my Bright Green Wheelchair is an Anti-Ableist Counterstory

Joe Stramondo, San Diego State University
Thursday, October 26, 2023
4:30 pm in Wall 116, the Johnson Auditorium

Abstract: Philosophy of technology has long grappled with questions regarding the social value of both particular technologies and technology generally speaking. This talk aims to contribute to the long tradition of philosophers examining the conditions necessary for technology to be made more liberatory than oppressive. However, Dr. Stramondo will offer a particular focus on the concerns of a segment of the public that has been systematically excluded from this conversation of technology’s social value, both within the academy and in the public square: disabled people.

To accomplish this, he will invite the audience to consider how technology can play a role in resisting ableism in public life by discussing assistive technology’s narrative potential as an expression of disability pride that might challenge pervasive ableist attitudes and beliefs. 

Ethics and the Global Refugee Crisis

Serena Parekh, Southwestern University
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
4:30 pm in Wall 116, the Johnson Auditorium

Abstract: In this talk, Dr. Serena Parekh will show why it’s important to understand that there is not one but two global refugee crises. The first is the more well-known crisis faced by Western states who are asked to take in refugees and asylum seekers; they must balance their commitments to human rights with what they see as a need to protect their borders and sovereign right to decide who enters. The second crisis is the crisis faced by refugees themselves who are unable to find refuge anywhere in the world, that is, they are unable to access the minimum conditions of human dignity. Formulating a morally adequate refugee policy will require understanding both crises, especially the second, lesser-known crisis. She shows why we should understand the global refugee crisis as a structural injustice and why this gives rise to a responsibility to address the crisis for refugees.