Each spring, the Philosophy Department is proud to host Inspiring TriVia: The Sarah L. Hoagland Speaker Series. As professor emerita of Northeastern Illinois University, Dr. Hoagland generously endowed this series to foster philosophical discussion at the intersections of race, class, and gender. Hence the title: Inspire (to breathe life into), and TriVia (the goddess of crossroads).

A heartfelt thank you to Dr. Sarah L. Hoagland for making it all possible.

Spring 2025

Dr. Luvell Anderson, University of Illinois
3:05-5:00 p.m. Thursday, February 27, 2025
Main Campus, Room TBA

Dr. Luvell Anderson

Luvell Anderson is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is the co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Applied Philosophy of Language and The Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Race. He has published several academic articles on racial humor, racial slurs, hate speech, and hermeneutical impasses. He has also written for venues like The New York Times, Boston Review, HR.com, and Mediapost and has been interviewed on several podcasts. He is currently finishing up a book on The Ethics of Racial Humor, which will be published by Oxford University Press. His latest book project is a philosophical meditation on Dave Chappelle, confrontation, and the relationship between humor, language, and freedom.

Past Lectures

2024

K. Bailey Thomas, Dartmouth College
"Knowing While Black: Deconstructing White Lies and Surviving an Anti-Black World"

2023

Robert J. Gooding-Williams, Columbia University
"Du Bois and the 'Souls of White Folk'"

2022

Ainsley LeSure, Brown University
"Assuming a World: A Phenomenology of Racism"

2021

Kris Sealey, Fairfield University
"When Heads Bang Together: Creolizing and Indigenous Identities in the Americas"

2020

Brian Burkhart, University of Oklahoma
"Indigenous Epistemic Sovereignty Through the Land"

2019

Saba Fatima, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
"#MeToo in Muslim America" 

2018

José Medina, Northwestern University
"Racial Violence and Epistemic Activism"

2017

Falguni Sheth, Emory University
"Race, Vulnerability and Violence"

2016

Mariana Ortega, John Caroll University
"In-Between Selves: World Traveling and Resistance" 

2015

Jacqueline Scott, Loyola University Chicago
"'Truth-tellers Are Not Always Palatable. There is a Preference for Candy Bars:' The Benefits of Racialized and Gendered Discomfort."

2014

Charles Mills, Northwestern University
"Critical Philosophy of Race: The Challenge of Intersectionality"