Currency: Race and the Circulation of the American Ideal
Rutgers University president Jonathan Holloway will present the lecture “Currency: Race and the Circulation of the American Ideal,” as part of a yearlong Douglass Residential College lecture series that seeks to engage the campus community in discussions about the state of today’s America by examining Black history.
"Currency” is a reflection upon the rhetorical value of the “American Ideal” and what that ideal looks like when viewed through a racial prism. A close reading of three objects—a Revolutionary War-era headstone, a mid-twentieth century coin, and the 21st century U.S. passport—affirms Ralph Ellison’s poignant assertions about racial invisibility and offers a cutting assessment of the costs associated with the circulation of the transcendent national ideal.
Jacquelyn Litt, dean of Douglass College, will host the series alongside the Office of Chancellor Christopher Molloy.