Professor of Philosophy Todd Franklin recently discussed his work in an interview featured on the website Engaged Philosophy: Civic Engagement in Philosophy.
Among the topics Franklin discussed was his role as a critical race theorist and his goal of bringing “critical race theory to life as fundamentally a form of civic engagement that responds to racism by creating social awareness, formulating analyses, and promoting individual and collective action.”
As examples, Franklin highlighted his project that focuses on “the differential outcomes for students of color versus white students pursuing STEM fields on predominantly white campuses,” and another that looks at “differential outcomes for Blacks and other people of color in terms of police violence.”
He also reflected on his motivation for doing such work saying, “I was inspired by what I witnessed in my youth as the trials and tribulations of being Black and the indominable spirit of scores of Black folks who struggled so that I and others would hopefully live in a world vastly different.”
Summing up his thoughts on engaged philosophy both in and out of the classroom, Franklin said that critical race theory is “not simply something that you study, it’s something you do!”
