Catherine Lockhart

How Historical Attitudes Towards Childhood Shape Social Hierarchies

By Stacey Patton

Thursday, March 13 | 7:30 p.m.
Wriston Auditorium

About the Talk: Before categories of difference became the primary framework for organizing society in the western world, another system of hierarchy played a foundational role in shaping attitudes towards power and social order: perceptions of childhood. 

Historically, children were often viewed as inherently flawed, in need of correction through strict discipline, labor, and, in some cases, severe punishment. In medieval and early modern Europe, this mindset justified practices such as corporal punishment, forced labor, and even public executions of children, reinforcing a cultural acceptance of control over the most vulnerable. 

As European societies expanded into the Americas, these frameworks influenced emerging systems of social stratification and control. The treatment of children, especially in contexts where discipline and forced labor were routine, helped establish broader ideas about who could be controlled, punished, and deemed less than fully autonomous. Over time, these attitudes informed colonial policies, labor practices, and legal structures that reinforced distinctions between different groups. 

About Dr. Stacey Patton

Dr. Stacey Patton is an award-winning journalist whose writings have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Al Jazeera, The Chronicle of Higher Education, BBC News, Black Enterprise, NewsOne, and other outlets. She has appeared on CNN, ABC News, MSNBC, Democracy Now, and Fox News. She is also the creator of Spare the Kids, an online portal designed to teach about the harms of physical punishment, and the forthcoming 3D medical animation app, When You Hit Me, which promises to be a game changer for child abuse prevention. For her child advocacy work, Dr. Patton was awarded the 2024 Child Advocacy Award from the American Psychological Association. Dr. Patton is also a research associate at Morgan State University and teaches digital journalism at Howard University.

Thursday, Jan. 15 | 6:30 p.m. | Tacos will be served at 6:15 p.m.
Warch 226 – Mead Witter Room

The President’s Committee on Diversity Affairs (PCDA) invites students, faculty, and staff to join us for “United in Chaos: Everyday Encounters.”

Please RSVP to attend before Jan. 13!

The “Everyday Encounters” series seeks to provide a safe and respectful environment for open dialogue about some of the most pressing and divisive issues in today’s society, including election outcomes and political polarization. This series aims to equip participants with the tools needed to navigate these topics thoughtfully, helping them engage with empathy, reflect on their own role in fostering inclusive conversations, and explore the complexities that underpin democracy and social justice.

Join us in creating a space for connection and mutual understanding. We look forward to engaging with you and sharing more resources in the coming days. If you have any questions, please contact IDEAS@lawrence.edu

On behalf of Accessibility Services and the I.D.E.A.S Division we invite you, the Lawrence faculty, staff, and students in joining us in embracing diversity and celebrating Disability Awareness Week.

The Disability Awareness events for the week will be a time to come together and create a community where everyone is valued and respected for who they are.

Monday April 1, 2024
Disability Awareness Tabling
11-1 p.m. & 4:30-6:30 p.m. – Warch Lobby

Wednesday April 3, 2024
Interactive Talk: Disability Advocacy w/ Dr. Petra Watzke
5-6:30 p.m. – Warch 325 – Pusey OR via Zoom

This talk examines what disability advocacy can look like on the LU campus. Audience members are invited to share their own experiences to affirm the centrality of this topic for the LU community. Refreshments will be served.

RSVP by March 28.

Friday April 5, 2024 – Wear your Disability Awareness T-shirt
Sensory Pop-Up Experience
12-4 p.m.

Critical Race Theory and the Interest Divergence Dilemma

Thursday, March 7 | 7 p.m.
Warch Campus Cinema

The Division of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Anti-Racism, and Sustainability Services at Lawrence University presents the 2023-24 Community Conversations Series: Tales of Challenge, Resistance, and Persistence.

In this talk, Dr. Victor Ray draws on two central critical race theory concepts: racial progress narratives and interest convergence to explain the current backlash. Ideas from critical race theory can explain the recent uproar over this insurgent body of knowledge, in opposition to mainstream notion of inevitable progress, critical race theorists see racial progress as fragile and contingent. And some political actors are pushing the United States toward a period of interest divergence. As some white Americans increasingly see their interests as fundamentally different from those of their nonwhite fellow citizens.

Dr. Ray is the F. Wendell Miller Associate Professor in the Departments of Sociology and Criminology and African American Studies at the University of Iowa and a Nonresident Fellow in Government Studies at The Brooklyn Institution, and a Carr Center Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.

We invite you, the Lawrence faculty and staff, in joining us in embracing diversity and celebrating Disability Awareness Week.

The Disability Awareness events for the week will be a time to come together and create a community where everyone is valued and respected for who they are.

If you would be interested in wearing a t-shirt, please complete the Form by March 15.

It is our goal to have you, our Lawrence faculty, and staff, provide support by wearing our Disability Awareness t-shirt on Friday April 5.

Please note that these items are limited!

On behalf of Accessibility Services and the I.D.E.A.S Division