Philosophy Colloquium Series: Mary McLeod Bethune: Pragmatism and Social Rights

Friday, November 7, 2025
3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Allendale Campus
Community, Faculty, Staff, Students

Dr. Judy Whipps, GVSU Professor Emerita of Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies, returns to campus to give a colloquium on Mary McLeod Bethune. Although Bethune is not a traditional philosopher, Whipps read Bethune's activism as philosophy, positioning her in the feminist pragmatist dialogue by demonstrating her core pragmatist and feminist philosophies. The history of Bethune's civil rights activism adds an essential dimension to the fifty-year story of feminist pragmatist judicial and legislative activism for social rights. Bethune's history also demonstrates how relational power was a force in political change, both in her leadership of African American women's clubs and through the relationships she developed with Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt.

Location Information

107 Manitou Hall, Valley Campus

Download parking map for the Allendale Campus

Contact Information

email [email protected] or email [email protected].

Hosting Department, Organization, or Business

GVSU Philosophy Department

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This event was added to the calendar by Bryana Quick (quickbry@mail.gvsu.edu) on Monday, November 3, 2025 and was last updated on Tuesday, November 4, 2025 at 11:19 a.m.

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