Responding to the Right’s Targeting of Critical Race Theory and the 1619 Project: Historiography as a Front in the Culture War 

Abstract

In this roundtable discussion, panelists will discuss recent legislation banning the teaching of materials from the New York Times 1619 Project or other historical course content deemed “divisive” because of the discussion of race, immigration, and settler colonialism as fundamental to U.S. history.  Panelists will discuss their own work and experiences to connect this legislation to broader issues such as race, historiography and academic freedom; the role of “culture wars” in the defunding of universities and resulting adjunctification; and neoliberalism in academia and the growing influence of donors. 

Chair: Rebecca N. Hill, Kennesaw State University

Panelist: Rachel ida Buff, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

Panelist: Lora D. Burnett, Intellectual history

Panelist: Peter Sebastian Chesney, UCLA Ph.D., 2021, a consultant based in California’s Silicon Valley

Panelist: Jane Dahlenburg, University of Central Arkansas

Panelist: Monica Muñoz Martinez, University of Texas at Austin