Author: Cheryl Miller

The “Legacies of Racism in American Culture” as part of the Perspectives series will return at 3 p.m. Dec. 8 via Zoom (Meeting ID: 998 4330 8081, Passcode: 441316). Dr. Chuck Koeber, associate professor and chair of the sociology department, will present on the subject while Andrew Hippisley, dean, Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will host the event.

This presentation will address the context of work (labor) and its influences on the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection. It examines the types of jobs in which insurrectionists were employed and also reviews types of right-wing political activism that took place within mass and social media and within communities and political rallies. Several, if not many, insurrectionists learned the skills necessary to carry out a military-style attack while working in their vocation. However, and perhaps more importantly, was the work done away from their jobs, as would-be insurrectionists devoted much time and money to consuming, producing and transferring media and social media content, much of which was not factual. This resulted in the formation and spread of radical right-wing political and racial ideologies that motivated the insurrectionists.

While at Wichita State, Koeber has been the director of the Center for Teaching Excellence and senior associate dean of Fairmount College. He teaches courses in introductory sociology, sociological theory, work and globalization. His research examines contemporary changes and social inequalities in the nature and organization of work. He is the coeditor of “The Critical Study of Work:  Labor, Technology, and Global Production,” and the author of a handbook for laid-off Wichita workers titled “I’ve Been Laid Off, What Should I Do?” Koeber has published in several peer-reviewed journals.

The “Legacies of Racism in American Culture” series will return at 3 p.m. today, Dec. 1 via Zoom (Meeting ID: 998 4330 8081, Passcode: 441316). Robert E. Weems, Jr., who has been Wichita State’s Willard W. Garvey Distinguished Professor of Business History since 2011, will present on the subject while Andrew Hippisley, dean, Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will host the event.

Many people associate Jim Crow racial segregation with the discriminatory treatment of African Americans in the realms of public accommodations, education and housing. However, this phenomenon also manifested itself in the realm of business. This presentation will discuss how the birth, growth and disappearance of black-owned insurance companies represents a useful case study of how “separate and unequal” operated in the business world.

Weems has published and spoken widely in the field of African American business history. His publications in African American business history include five books and numerous articles and book chapters. Weems served as a historical consultant and appeared in the documentary “Boss: The Black Experience in Business,” which premiered on PBS in April 2019. In June 2021, Weems was the keynote speaker at a program sponsored by the regional banks of the Federal Reserve titled “Racism and the Economy: Focus on Entrepreneurship.”

The “Legacies of Racism in American Culture” series will return with at 3 p.m. Nov. 17 via Zoom (Meeting ID: 998 4330 8081, Passcode: 441316). Laila Ballout, Wichita State assistant professor of history, will present on the subject while Andrew Hippisley, dean, Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will host the event.

During this edition, the U.S. immigration laws that define which peoples of the world should be admitted to the United States and who should be barred or limited from living, working or becoming citizens will be discussed. These laws have consistently reflected the ideas about race and ethnicity held by the policymakers who create them.

This talk will also examine a few major examples of the legacies of racism in U.S. immigration law, including Asian exclusion, quota systems, the impact of the civil rights movement of the 1960s,  the ways that race is still a factor in the colorblind, and the U.S. immigration policies that took shape after 1965.

Ballout’s work focuses on citizen activism in the U.S. relationship with the Middle East, especially by considering immigrant and diaspora activism and the role of religion in U.S. engagement with the region. She is currently working on her book “Saving Lebanon: American and Lebanese Activism for Intervention in the Lebanese Civil War, 1975-1990.”

The “Legacies of Racism in American Culture” series will return with “The Bible and Race in American Christian Cultures” at 3 p.m. Nov. 3 via Zoom (Meeting ID: 998 4330 8081, Passcode: 441316). Rannfrid Lasine Thelle, Wichita State associate professor of religion, will present on the subject while Andrew Hippisley, dean, Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will host the event.

The talk will cover how the  Christian Bible has been a factor in American culture and society since European colonists brought it to the U.S. 500 years ago. Political and religious leaders, academics, and cultural figures have applied biblical texts and Christian interpretative traditions to their political and social agendas.

With a mindset that had long taken the supremacy of Christianity as a given, some influential early Americans developed biblical and theological justifications for subjugating Indigenous populations and taking their land. The same thinking found a rationale for the enslavement of Africans and the continued violence against their descendants. Elaborate readings of biblical texts combined with early modern theories of racial origins formalized systems of racial identities that fundamentally privileged White people. 

This talk will also illustrate connections between historical practices and present inequalities, and pose the question of how we, as a university, ought to respond.

Presenters in the “Legacies of Racism in American Culture” series will give their perspectives on religion, immigration, business, supremacist thought and labor economics. Andrew Hippisley, dean, Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will host the series.

Presentations will be delivered at 3 p.m. Nov. 3, Nov. 17, Dec. 1 and Dec. 8 via Zoom. Login information will be the same for each talk (Meeting ID: 998 4330 8081, Passcode: 441316).

The series includes:

Nov. 3  “The Bible and Race in American Christian Cultures,” by Rannfrid Lasine Thelle, associate professor of religion

Nov. 17  “Who Can Become an American? U.S. Immigration Policy, Racism, and Civil Rights Struggle in the 20th Century,” by Laila Ballout, assistant professor of history

Dec. 1 “‘Jim Crow’ in the Business World: The Birth, Growth, and Disappearance of Black-Owned Insurance Companies,” by Robert E. Weems, Jr., Willard W. Garvey Distinguished Professor of Business History

Dec. 8  “Labor Economies in the Forces of Insurrection,” by Chuck Koeber, associate professor of sociology

Videos of the previous Perspectives series are archived on the Fairmount College YouTube channel.

Presenters in the “Legacies of Racism in American Culture” series will give their perspectives on religion, immigration, business, supremacist thought and labor economics. Andrew Hippisley, dean of the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will host the series.

Presentations will be delivered at 3 p.m. on the following dates below via Zoom. Login information will be the same for each talk (Meeting ID: 998 4330 8081, Passcode: 441316).

The series includes:

• Nov. 3: “The Bible and Race in American Christian Cultures,” by Rannfrid Lasine Thelle, associate professor of religion
• Nov. 17: “Who Can Become an American? U.S. Immigration Policy, Racism, and Civil Rights Struggle in the 20th Century,” by Laila Ballout, assistant professor of history
• Dec. 1: “‘Jim Crow’ in the Business World: The Birth, Growth, and Disappearance of Black-Owned Insurance Companies,” by Robert E. Weems Jr., Willard W. Garvey Distinguished Professor of Business History
• Dec. 8: “Labor Economies in the Forces of Insurrection,” by Chuck Koeber, associate professor of sociology

Videos of the previous perspectives series are archived on the Fairmount College YouTube channel.

The campus community is invited to join the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for the induction ceremony of its hall of fame honorees 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22 at Wiedemann Auditorium. Induction into the Fairmount College Hall of Fame is the highest recognition of outstanding alumni who have had a significant impact on the region, nation and world.

The inductees are:

• Quincalee Brown, 1961, BA-English; BA-speech. Brown served the Water Environment Federation as its executive director and was a founding member of the Water Environment Research Foundation. She also worked as an independent water quality and association management consultant. Prior to her work with water quality, Brown held several positions in organizations that served the needs of women in the Washington, D.C., area. She is also the former Wichita State debate coach.
• Vincent L. Gott, 1951, BS-biological sciences. Over the course of his career, Gott assisted in developing the earliest pacemaker and artificial heart valves. During his time at Johns Hopkins Hospital, he performed the first heart transplant operation, and perfected operational procedures for correcting congenital heart defects in patients with Marfan syndrome. He also trained and mentored more than 50 thoracic surgery residents and fellows. Gott will be inducted posthumously.
• Alfonso Lenhardt, 1976, MS-administration of justice. The former U.S. ambassador to Tanzania, Lenhardt has also served the U.S. Senate as Sergeant at Arms, as U.S. representative to the East African Community, and in high leadership positions for the U.S. Agency of International Development. Before holding these government positions, he had a long career with the U.S. Army, retiring as Major General.

Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences faculty and staff are invited to a town hall with President Rick Muma at 3 p.m. today, Oct. 15 via Zoom (Zoom Meeting ID: 944 1646 4950  Passcode: 606906). Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Shirley Lefever will also be a featured guest.

Undergraduate and graduate students majoring in liberal arts and sciences are invited to President Muma’s Town Hall with Fairmount College students at 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 14 via Zoom (Zoom Meeting ID: 925 4542 1214 Passcode: 322262). Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Shirley Lefever will also be a featured guest.

Approximately 1,800 students from across the United States, Canada and Japan will travel to Wichita State in May 2023 for the Science Olympiad National Tournament.

“Science Olympiad is a team competition that allows middle school and high school students a chance to learn about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) areas that they might not get a chance to in their regular classroom setting,” said Jill Fisher, community outreach coordinator for Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the national tournament director. “Competitions involve device-building, testing, lab work, and written exams.”

For example, teams might participate in an ornithology event, which includes identification of bird specimens, bird calls and testing of knowledge of avian diets, habitats and ranges. Testing and lab activities include wet chemistry, identifying unknown liquids and solids, and basic tests with titrations and potential of hydrogen (pH). Physics labs may include electricity or optics.

“Getting the national tournament is a huge deal,” said Dr. Andrew Hippisley, dean of Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “It will associate Wichita State with STEM education at the national level, and the energy such a large flock of eager young minds brings to the campus is going to be amazing. These are the nation’s future students, researchers, inventors, entrepreneurs. Who knows how significant a step on their path this will be for them?”

Students will be accompanied by siblings, designated coaches, parents and extra students from their schools, bringing the expected attendance to between 4,000 and 7,000.

“This is a huge event. The opening program and the competition are usually high-energy,” Fisher said. “It’s a great way to wrap up the Science Olympiad season, which starts in September and goes all the way to May.”

Participants will stay in on-campus housing and local hotels during their visit to Wichita. All competitive activities will take place in the Rhatigan Student Center, classroom spaces, Koch Arena and other athletic facilities.

Wichita State first hosted the national competition in 2007. The university has hosted the Kansas Science Olympiad state tournament since 1988.