Naomi Mae Wilson featured as a panelist for the Ginsberg Center 2020 Dewey Lecture: Building a Civic Temper

The virtual event will feature a panel discussion between Alec Gallimore, Naomi Wilson, Mary Jo Callan, and moderated by Nick Tobier. Each panelist offers a unique perspective about how we can build the civic temper by challenging U-M to align incentives and actions with rhetoric and aspiration. Participants will also participate in small group conversations, using an activity co-designed with UMMA, to explore our prior ideas and experiences around civic engagement and consider how each of us can contribute to build the civic temper.

The Ginsberg Center’s Dewey Series recognizes the enduring legacy of philosopher and educational reformer John Dewey, who taught at U-M in the 1890s and, later, went on to found the New School for Social Research. Chief among Dewey’s enduring ideas were that experience is the means through which we come to understand and connect with the world around us and that universal education is the key to democracy. This year's theme is inspired by William James' 1906 Essay, 'The Moral Equivalent of War.' While some of James' assertions are cause for critique, his primary observation that we need to focus on building our shared public life remains more important than ever. 

Wilson is an acitivist scholar, community organizer, and a 6th year PhD candidate in Educational Studies, Foundations and Policy program at the University of Michigan. Naomi is originally from Southeast San Diego, CA, and received her B.A. in African American Studies from UC Berkeley and a Master's in Educational Politics, Leadership, and Advocacy from NYU. Currently, her community-based research centers youth voice and youth organizing as they build multiracial-multiethnic coalitions to fight for greater educational justice in Detroit. As a Ginsberg Graduate Liaison, Naomi facilitates workshops for students and contributes to workshop curriculum.