George Yancy

George Dewey Yancy (born June 3, 1961)[1] is an American philosopher who is the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Philosophy at Emory University. He has been a professor of philosophy at Emory University since fall 2015. He is also a distinguished Montgomery Fellow at Dartmouth College, one of the college's highest honors.[2] In 2019-20, he was the University of Pennsylvania's Inaugural Provost's Distinguished Visiting Faculty Fellow. He is also the editor for Lexington Books' "Philosophy of Race" book series.[3] He is known for his work in critical whiteness studies, critical philosophy of race, critical phenomenology (especially racial embodiment), and African American philosophy, and has written, edited, or co-edited more than 20 books. He has also authored over 150 scholarly articles and chapters. Yancy has also authored numerous influential essays and conducted provocative interviews at The New York Times' philosophy column "The Stone." [4] Yancy has been interviewed on various radio stations throughout the U.S. He has also appeared in two documentaries, Lillian Smith: Breaking the Silence, an independent documentary directed by Hal Jacobs and Henry Jacobs, with support from Georgia Humanities, 2019, and Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story, a six-episode series released on July 30, 2018 on Paramount Network. Series was directed by Jenner Furts and Julia Willoughby Nason. Executive producers: Sybrina Fulton, Tracy Martin, Jay-Z, Chachi Senior, Michael Gasparro, Jenner Furst, Julia Willoughby Nason, and Nick Sandow.[5]

For the University of North Texas sociologist, see George Yancey.

George Yancy
Born
George Dewey Yancy

(1961-06-03) June 3, 1961
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of Pittsburgh, Yale University, New York University, Duquesne University
InstitutionsDuquesne University
Emory University
ThesisWhiteness and the return of the "Black body" (2005)
Doctoral advisorFred Evans
Main interests
Critical philosophy of race, critical whiteness studies, African American philosophy, philosophy of the body
Websitewww.georgeyancy.com

Education and career

Yancy received his B.A. in philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh cum laude in 1985, his M.A. in philosophy from Yale University in 1987, his M.A. in Africana studies from New York University (NYU) in 2004, and his Ph.D. in philosophy from Duquesne University with distinction in 2005.[6] He began teaching at Duquesne in 2005, progressing from assistant professor to full professor in just eight years, 2005-2013. After teaching at Duquesne for ten years, he moved to teach philosophy at Emory University in 2015.[2]

At the University of Pittsburgh, Yancy wrote his undergraduate honors thesis on Bertrand Russell's Sense Data theory. His honors thesis was directed by prominent American philosopher and epistemologist Wilfrid Sellars. Also at Pitt, he studied Kant under Nicholas Rescher, studied with Adolf Grunbaum on Freud's theory of religion, studied Martin Heidegger under John Haugeland, ancient Greek philosophy under Alexander Nehamas, and modern philosophy under Annette Baier.[7]

"Dear White America"

In 2015, Yancy published an article in the New York Times' philosophy column, The Stone, entitled "Dear White America",[8] which proved very controversial and resulted in his receiving large amounts of hate mail and harassment.[9] This experience later helped convince the American Philosophical Association to issue a statement denouncing bullying and harassment.[10] It also resulted in his being added to the Professor Watchlist, a website which purports to document anti-conservative college professors, in 2016.[11] Anne Leighton was also instrumental in bringing attention and support through creating a petition in support of Yancy.[12] Also, 68 philosophers and intellectuals wrote a letter in his defense.[13] In response to being placed on the Professor Watchlist, Yancy wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times entitled "I am a Dangerous Professor."[14]

Works

Books
  • Across Black Spaces: Essays and Interviews from an American Philosopher. (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020)
  • Buddhism and Whiteness: Critical Reflections. Co-edited and Introductory comments with Emily McRae (Lexington Books, 2019)
  • Educating For Critical Consciousness. Edited with Introduction by George Yancy (Routledge, 2019)
  • Backlash: What Happens When We Talk Honestly about Racism in America. (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018)
  • On Race: 34 Conversations in a Time of Crisis. (Oxford University Press, 2017)
  • Black Bodies, White Gazes: The Continuing Significance of Race in America, Second Edition. Foreword by Linda Alcoff. (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017)
  • Our Black Sons Matter: Mothers Talk about Fears, Sorrows, and Hopes. Co-edited with Maria del Guadalupe Davidson and Susan Hadley. Introduction by George Yancy. Afterword by Farah Jasmine Griffin. (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016). This book was a STARRED Review and was also selected as the Booklist Top 10 List of the Best Diverse Nonfiction Titles in 2017.
  • White Self-Criticality beyond Anti-Racism: How Does It Feel to Be a White Problem? Edited with introduction by George Yancy. (Lexington Books, 2015)
  • Exploring Race in Predominantly White Classrooms: Scholars of Color Reflect. (Critical Social Thought Series). Co-edited with Maria Del Guadalupe Davidson. Co-authored Introduction and additional submission of chapter. (Routledge, 2014)
  • Pursuing Trayvon Martin: Historical Contexts and Contemporary Manifestations of Racial Dynamics. Co-edited and co-authored Introduction with Janine Jones and additional submission of chapter. (Lexington Books, 2013). The first paperback edition of this book was published in 2014 along with a new preface written by the editors.
  • Look, A White! Philosophical Essays on Whiteness. Foreword by Naomi Zack. (Temple University Press, 2012)
  • Christology and Whiteness: What Would Jesus Do? Edited with Introduction by George Yancy. (Routledge, 2012)
  • Reframing the Practice of Philosophy: Bodies of Color, Bodies of Knowledge. Edited with Introduction and chapter by George Yancy. (SUNY Press, 2012)
  • Therapeutic Uses of Rap and Hip-Hop. Co-edited and co-authored Introduction with Susan Hadley. (Routledge, 2011)
  • The Center Must Not Hold: White Women Philosophers on the Whiteness of Philosophy. Foreword by Sandra Harding. Edited with Introduction by George Yancy. (Lexington Books, 2010). The Center Must Not Hold: White Women Philosophers on the Whiteness of Philosophy was reprinted in paperback edition in 2011.
  • Critical Perspectives on bell hooks. Co-edited with Maria Del Guadalupe Davidson. Co-authored Introduction and additional submission of chapter. (Routledge, 2009)
  • Black Bodies, White Gazes: The Continuing Significance of Race. Foreword by Linda Alcoff. (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008). Received Honorable Mention from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights.
  • Philosophy in Multiple Voices. Edited with Introduction by George Yancy. (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007). Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book Award for 2009.
  • Narrative Identities: Psychologists Engaged in Self-Construction. Co-edited with Susan Hadley. Preface by Yancy and Hadley. (Jessica Kingsley Press, 2005)
  • White on White/Black on Black. Foreword by Cornel West. Edited with Introduction and chapter by George Yancy. (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005). Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book Award for 2005.
  • What White Looks Like: African American Philosophers on the Whiteness Question. Edited with Introduction and chapter by George Yancy. (Routledge, 2004)
  • The Philosophical I: Personal Reflections on Life in Philosophy. Edited with Introduction and chapter by George Yancy. (Rowman & Littlefield, 2002)
  • Cornel West: A Critical Reader. Afterword by Cornel West. Edited with Introduction and chapter by George Yancy. (Blackwell Publishers, 2001)
  • African-American Philosophers: 17 Conversations. Edited with Introduction, and all interviews conducted by George Yancy. (Routledge, 1998). Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book Award for 1999.

The New York Times (The Stone) articles and interviews by George Yancy
  • (With Todd May). "Policing Is Doing What It Was Meant To Do. That's the Problem," June 21, 2020.
  • (with Karen Teel). "I believe that I Would See Her Again," May 20, 2020.
  • "Ahmaud Arbery and the Ghosts of Lynchings Past," May 12, 2020.
  • (with Moulie Vidas). "What Judaism Teaches Us About the Fear of Death," March 26, 2020.
  • (with Geshe Dadul Namgyal). "How Does a Buddhist Monk Face Death?", February 26, 2020.
  • "Facing the Fact of My Death," February 3, 2020.
  • "Dear God, Are You There?", August 7, 2019.
  • (with Judith Butler). "When Killing Women Isn't a Crime," July 10, 2019.
  • (with Cornel West). "Power Is Everywhere, but Love Is Supreme," May 29, 2019.
  • "Why White People Need Blackface," March 4, 2019.
  • "#IAm Sexist", October 24, 2018.
  • (with Anita L. Allen). "The Pain and Promise of Black Women in Philosophy", June 18, 2018.
  • "Should I Give Up on White People?", April 16, 2018.
  • (with Drucilla Cornell) "James Bond is a Wimp", February 26, 2018.
  • "Will America Choose King's Dream or Trump's Nightmare?", January 15, 2018.
  • (with David Kyuman Kim). "An Open Letter of Love to Kim Jong-un", November 13, 2017.
  • (with Noam Chomsky) "On Trump and the State Of the Union", July 5, 2017.
  • "Is Your God Dead?", June 19, 2017.
  • "It's Black History Month. Look in the Mirror", February 9, 2017.
  • "I am a Dangerous Professor", November 30, 2016
  • (with Brad Evans) "The Perils of being a Black Philosopher", April 18, 2016.
  • "Dear White America", December 24, 2015.
  • (with bell hooks) "Buddhism, the Beats and Loving Blackness", December 10, 2015.
  • (with Seyla Benhabib) "Whom Does Philosophy Speak?", October 9, 2015.
  • (with David Kim) "The Invisible Asian", October 8, 2015.
  • (with Paul Gilroy) "What 'Black Lives' Means in Britain", October 1, 2015.
  • (with Cornel West) "Cornel West: The Fire of a New Generation", August 19, 2015.
  • (with Joe Feagin) "American Racism in the 'White Frame'", July 27, 2015.
  • (with John D. Caputo) "Looking 'White' in the Face", July 2, 2015.
  • (with Peter Singer) "Peter Singer: On Racism, Animal Rights and Human Rights", May 27, 2015.
  • (with Molefi Kete Asante) "Molefi Kete Asante: Why Afrocentricity?", April 6, 2015.
  • (with Anthony Appiah). "Kwame Anthony Appiah: The Complexities of Black Folk", April 16, 2015.
  • (with Emily Lee) "Asian, American, Woman, Philosopher", April 6, 2015.
  • (with Noam Chomsky) "Noam Chomsky on the Roots of American Racism", March 18, 2015.
  • (with Falguni A. Sheth). "How Liberalism and Racism are Wed", February 27, 2015.
  • (With Linda Alcoff), "Philosophy's Lost Body and Soul", February 4, 2015.
  • (With Judith Butler). "What's Wrong With 'All Lives Matter?'", January 12, 2015.
  • (with Joy James). "Black Lives: Between Grief and Action", December 22, 2014.
  • (with Shannon Sullivan). "White Anxiety and the Futility of Black Hope", December 5, 2014.
  • (with Charles Mills). "Lost in Rawlsland"), November 16, 2014.
  • (with Naomi Zack). "What ‘White Privilege' really means", November 5, 2014.
  • "Walking While Black in the White Gaze'", September 1, 2013.

Awards, Fellowships & Distinguished Appointments

Yancy has received various Awards, Fellowships and Distinguished Appointments, including:[15]

  • 2019-20 University of Pennsylvania's Inaugural Provost's Distinguished Visiting Faculty Fellow.
  • 2019 Endowed Chair Appointment as the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Philosophy at Emory University.
  • 2019 Distinguished Montgomery Fellow at Dartmouth College, one of the college’s highest honors.
  • In 2017, Our Black Sons Matter was listed by Booklist as a Top 10 Diverse Nonfiction book.
  • In 2016, "Dear White America" in The Stone (The New York Times) won the American Philosophical Association Committee on Public Philosophy's Op-Ed Contest.
  • In 2014, "Walking While Black in the White Gaze" in The Stone (The New York Times) won the American Philosophical Association Committee on Public Philosophy's Op-Ed Contest.
  • In 2013, Yancy became Founding Editor of Philosophy of Race Book Series at Lexington Books.
  • NEH Award through the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts, 2012.
  • Nominated for the Duquesne University Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarship, 2012.
  • Duquesne University McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts Award for Excellence in Scholarship, 2012.
  • CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book Title, 2009.
  • Honorable Mention from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights, 2008.
  • Nominated for the Duquesne University Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarship, 2008.
  • Duquesne University McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship, 2008.
  • Wimmer Family Foundation Grant to complete authored book, Black Bodies, White Gazes: The Continuing Significance of Race, Duquesne University, 2006.
  • First junior faculty member at Duquesne University to receive Honorable Mention for College Excellence in Faculty Scholarship, Duquesne University, 2006.
  • CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book Title, 2005.
  • Awarded Duquesne University Dissertation Writing Fellowship, 2004.
  • Awarded Distinguished Henry M. MacCracken Fellowship, New York University, 2003.
  • Award for Excellence in Scholarship by a Graduate Student, Duquesne University, 2000.
  • CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book Title, 1999.
  • Awarded Inaugural Distinguished McAnulty Fellowship in the Department of Philosophy, Duquesne University, 1999–2003.
  • Awarded Yale University Fellowship, 1987–1990.

See also

References
  1. "Yancy, George". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  2. W., Justin. "George Yancy from Duquesne to Emory". Daily Nous.
  3. "George Yancy". Department of Philosophy Website. Emory University.
  4. Willett, Paige (February 20, 2017). "Race Relations And The Philosophy Of Whiteness Are Important Subjects for Doctor George Yancy". KGOU.
  5. "Media Appearances".
  6. "George Yancy". Duquesne University Faculty. Duquesne University.
  7. "GEORGE YANCY". What Is It Like to Be a Philosopher?. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  8. Yancy, George (December 24, 2015). "Dear White America". Opinionator. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  9. Kupka-Moore, Marshall (February 2, 2016). "The Emory professor behind Dear White America explains his side". The Tab.
  10. Jaschik, Scott (February 15, 2016). "Against Bullying". Inside Higher Education.
  11. Flaherty, Colleen (December 6, 2016). "Reclaiming the Watch List". Inside Higher Education.
  12. Leighton, Anne. "Support George Yancy". Change.org. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  13. "In Defense of a Colleague Facing Racist Attacks". Inside Higher Ed. February 26, 2016.
  14. Yancy, George (November 30, 2016). "I am a Dangerous Professor". Opinionator.
  15. "Honors/Awards".
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