Mourning the Creation of Racial Categories: A Writing Experience

Join Women Writing for (a) Change for the fifth program in this ten-part series, as we explore race from the lens of categories. Joan Ferrante, a professor of sociology at Northern Kentucky University, and her students created a film that examines the history of racial categories, what was lost in the effort to sort humans one from the other, and how that is relevant to today’s cultural, political and socio-economic climates.

After viewing the film, Mourning the Creation of Racial Categories, Joan will lead a discussion as we consider how and why categories were formed, and why mourning their existence can bring healing and reconciliation into the lives of those impacted. Writing prompts will guide participants in their own journey to discover, question, and understand more about a topic shaping our national conversation.

Women Writing for (a) Change partners with Northern Kentucky University and Joan Ferrante for the fifth program in this ten-part series. The series is designed to explore and consider a variety of cross cultural expressions, and to foster deeper understanding and awareness of different racial, ethnic, and cultural traditions.

Note: This program will take place at Women Writing for (a) Change, 6906 Plainfield Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236. Register here.

Joan Ferrante is founder and director of the Mourning the Creation of Racial Categories Project. She is a professor of sociology at Northern Kentucky University. Joan is the author of Sociology: A Global Perspective (9th edition) and Seeing Sociology (3rd edition). She also co-authored/edited The Social Construction of Race and Ethnicity in the United States with Prince Brown, Jr (2nd edition). Her most recent works are Places That Matter: Knowing Your Neighborhood Through Data (University of California, forthcoming 2018) and How Race Has Estranged US: An Invitation to Talk (in progress).