In Dialogue is an occasional series of interdisciplinary, discussion-based sessions that explore art on view at the Museum in relation to works in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. In Spring 2020, we will take inspiration from Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott to consider timely and key exhibition themes that explore the dynamics between race and gender, as well as the function of satire within the work.
Facilitated by Dr. Ethan Johnson, this In Dialogue will center discussion around the film, A Question of Color, and the ways in which colorism occurs within the Colescott exhibition. Ethan Johnson is an associate professor in and chair of the Black Studies Department in the School of Gender, Race and Nations at Portland State University. He received his doctorate from the Social and Cultural Studies in Education Program at the University of California, Berkeley. He has published in various journals such as Race, Ethnicity and Education, The International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, Souls, Ethnography and Education and The Oregon Historical Quarterly. He has also co-edited the book called Education and the Black Diaspora: Educational Perspectives, Challenges and Prospects.
He works across multiple fields of study related to the experiences of people of African descent: education, popular culture, race and racism, history and African Diaspora Studies. Currently, he is working on a number of projects. One examines the educational experiences of Afro-Latin@s in Spain and the other focuses on the significance of complexion and phenotype in the lives of Black males living in Portland for which he has an article coming out this year. Professor Johnson is the host and organizer of the Black Bag Speaker Series whose mission is to create a space on campus in which scholars and/or activists doing work that relates to people of African descent in Portland and the nation can engage with the university and community.