College of Humanities and Social Sciences to Host Conference that will Explore Complex Relationships Between Social Differences and Inequality —Phillip Atiba Goff, professor of social psychology at UCLA, is the keynote speaker The paradox of difference and inequality in a global age is the focus of a conference to be held at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J. on Wednesday, November 11, 2015, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. in University Commons Ballroom C on campus. This is the fourth annual multidisciplinary conference presented by the University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The conference, “’Us and Them’: The Paradox of Difference and Inequality in a Global Age,” will examine the multidimensional relationships between social “difference” and “inequality;” specifically, how the intersections of gender, class, race, sexuality, age, ability and nationality provide rich contexts for exploring the production and management of “difference” in the everyday lives of communities. The event will begin with a panel discussion, “Exploiting Difference: Immigrant Experience and Citizenship,” from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Panelists include Alyshia Gálvez, associate professor and director of the Jaime Luccero Mexican Studies Institute, Lehman College/City University of New York; and Michael Innis-Jiménez, associate professor in the Department of American Studies at the University of Alabama. Phillip Atiba Goff, associate professor of social psychology at the University of California – Los Angeles, will present the keynote address, “The Fire This Time: Race, Policing, and the Psychology of Justice in Contemporary America,” from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Goff, who is currently on leave as a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, is co-founder and president of the Center for Policing Equity, and an expert in contemporary forms of racial bias and discrimination, as well as the intersections of race and gender. He is one of three principal investigators for the U.S. Department of Justice's National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice. Goff’s work has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, and W.K. Kellogg Foundation, among others. From 2 to 3:15 p.m., a panel will discuss “Fearing Difference: Terror and the Other.” Panelists include Jeanne Theoharis, distinguished professor of political science at Brooklyn College, and Arun Kundnami, PhD, author, journalist, and instructor, Department of Media, Culture, and Communication, at New York University. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Wartyna Davis, associate dean, College of the Humanities and Social Sciences at William Paterson University, at DavisW@wpunj.edu. 11/03/15
