Intellectualism was the topic of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Ethnic Studies Colloquium at the Nebraska Union on Wednesday, where panelists discussed public and alternative thinkers and modernity.
The panel consisted of Jeannette Jones, an assistant professor of history, Jose Gonzalez, an associate professor of modern language and Gregory Rutledge, an assistant professor of English.
Gonzales spoke about the role the intellectual plays in modernization, and described his definition of an alternative intellectual as "one who uses culture in non-traditional ways."
He discussed two novels about a pair of Peruvians who used culture in non-traditional ways, one of whom had leftist ideas and the other who was conservative.
"These are two well-known novels," he said. "I'm trying to take a fresh view on it."
The second presenter was Jones, who spoke about intellectual thinkers and how they relate to Pan-Africanism, a philosophy seeking to unite African and African-Americans in a global community.
She read a passage from a chapter in her book "‘In Brightest Africa': Naturalistic Constructions of Africa in the American Museum of Natural History, 1910-1936."
In particular, she talked about various conferences concerning Pan-Africanism.
"It had to come to a sense of commonality," she said.
She said she enjoyed learning about how people have re-imagined different countries and what things cause them to take different stances on certain issues.
The last to speak was Rutledge, who lectured about how intellectuals relate to imperialism and sea-change.
"I think all intellectuals are those that work with traditional thinkers," he said.
Rutledge said things are changing and shifting, notably with the election of Barack Obama as the first African-American president and China's economic rise to power during 2008.
However, he said there are still problems to be dealt with, such as scarcity of resources, which has been a recurring problem.
"Intellectuals will always have to address that for a variety of reasons," he said.
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