Reckoning with Past Injustices: A Talk with PSU's Philosopher President
Academic institutions are purpose-driven, not profit-driven, and heavily subsidized by government funding, committed to seeking and exemplifying truth and justice in their mission and operations. In a democratic society, one principal purpose of higher education is democratic equality, the idea that all persons are worthy of equal dignity and respect, that their status is not inborn or tied to nonvoluntary social identity in race, class, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. The longer their history, the more time they have had to accumulate and embody historical injustices in various ways. To honor the ideals of democratic equality, institutions must reckon with the ways that they have participated in or been complicit with injustice.
This talk explores the ethical questions that institutions and their leaders ask when they consider how this reckoning is to be done.
President Ann E. Cudd joined Portland State in August 2023, bringing with her an immense amount of energy and focus on the mission and values of Oregon’s urban research university. She comes to the president’s office as an accomplished academic leader and philosophy scholar whose research explores themes of oppression, economic inequality, capitalism and gender. She is the author of more than 60 books, articles, and chapters spanning topics from social and political philosophy, philosophy of economics, decision theory and feminist theory.
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