Friday, December 4 | 1-2 pm CST
What does it mean to be a good citizen, and how do good citizens make the decision to resist or rebel against governing authorities? This is an enduring question faced by citizens and subjects for millennia, and it is a question at the root of many of the social and political struggles we are witnessing in this very tumultuous year. Although some argue that the idea of a canon is outdated and unresponsive to our diverse communities, in this session we see how canonical works, when placed into conversation with contemporary texts and experiences, provide excellent guidance that helps us to navigate complex issues with wisdom and humility. The texts we will examine are: Sophocles’ Antigone, the Declaration of Independence, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”.
Dr. Angel Adams Parham
Dr. Angel Adams Parham is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Nyansa Classical Community. Nyansa provides after-school programming and curricula designed to connect with and draw students of color into the beauty of classical literature and the great conversation. She is also Associate Professor of Sociology at Loyola University-New Orleans. Dr. Parham's sociological training provides an in-depth understanding of the social and economic challenges facing many low-income communities of color, while her Christian faith emphasizes the importance of combining this sociological knowledge with a commitment to students’ spiritual formation and the cultivation of their moral imagination. She is also a wife and mother of two beautiful girls who are homeschooled according to classical Christian principles and pedagogies.