PLYMOUTH – The Plymouth State campus will welcome Robert Jensen, Ph.D., from the University of Texas, Austin on Tuesday, November 15, 2005, as part of the Sidore lecture series.
Jensen is a professor in the School of Journalism and a free-lance journalist. He has published three books and numerous articles about America’s social problems such as race and equality of the sexes.
His most recent book, The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism and White Privilege, addresses the question that was once directed toward W.E.B. DuBois: “How does it feel to be a problem?” Except the question is posed to the white majority.
His second book is entitled, Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim our Identity. This book is a small critique on the country’s post 9/11 policies. According to Publisher’s Weekly it is “a sort of handbook for people who are looking for new ways to engage fully in the democratic process of citizenship.”
Jensen is an activist in the feminist movement, more specifically, sexual violence and exploitation via pornography. He addresses his concerns in his article, “A cruel edge: The painful truth about today’s pornography – and what men can do about it.”
He examines the “adult product” industry and it’s main audience: men. Jensen outlines each category of pornography pointing out that most are shot “POV”, from the point of view of the man engaging in sex, primarily pleasuring the man instead of the woman.
Jensen also remains an active member of Nowar Collective and Third Coast Activist Resource Center (TCARC). Nowar is a political organization group. TCARC is a resource center in the Austin, TX area that’s goal is to educate people about the U.S. policies around the world and to organize an international movement for global justice.
Comments or questions about Jensen’s appearance on campus can be directed to Leo Sandy at 535-2287.