Centre for Ethics Symposium — W. E. B. Du Bois

W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) was an influential American sociologist, historian, writer, and civil rights activist. A co-founder of the NAACP and a lifelong pan-Africanist, he challenged racial discrimination through journalism, activism and academic research. His landmark book, The Souls of Black Folk, explored the experiences of Black Americans and introduced the concept of “double consciousness,” describing the tension of seeing oneself through both one’s own perspective and that of a society shaped by racism. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Du Bois advocated for immediate social and political equality, famously clashing with Booker T. Washington’s strategy of accommodation. Du Bois was one of the first Black Americans to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University and remains a foundational figure in sociology, African American studies, and the global struggle for human rights.

This is half-day philosophy conference on W. E. B. Du Bois presented by the University of Toronto's Centre for Ethics. The conference is free to attend and open to the public.

The Conference Schedule

• 1pm: Robert Gooding-Williams (Yale)
• 2pm: William Paris (Toronto)
• 3:30pm: Kwesi Thomas (Toronto/Simon Fraser)
• 4:30pm: Chike Jeffers (Dalhousie)

About the Centre for Ethics (http://ethics.utoronto.ca):

The Centre for Ethics is an interdisciplinary centre aimed at advancing research and teaching in the field of ethics, broadly defined. The Centre seeks to bring together the theoretical and practical knowledge of diverse scholars, students, public servants and social leaders in order to increase understanding of the ethical dimensions of individual, social, and political life.

In pursuit of its interdisciplinary mission, the Centre fosters lines of inquiry such as (1) foundations of ethics, which encompasses the history of ethics and core concepts in the philosophical study of ethics; (2) ethics in action, which relates theory to practice in key domains of social life, including bioethics, business ethics, and ethics in the public sphere; and (3) ethics in translation, which draws upon the rich multiculturalism of the City of Toronto and addresses the ethics of multicultural societies, ethical discourse across religious and cultural boundaries, and the ethics of international society.

The Ethics of A.I. Lab at the Centre For Ethics recently appeared on a list of 10 organizations leading the way in ethical A.I.: https://ocean.sagepub.com/blog/10-organizations-leading-the-way-in-ethical-ai