The Past Speaks

That’s the title of a new initiative from the Social Issues in Management (SIM) division of the Academy of Management.

The SIM Racial Justice Committee seeks to expand the conversation of race and identity in the business academy. Building on the important research traditions within management scholarship that critically engage the role of race in interpersonal conflict and group dynamics, we intend to demonstrate the value of racial considerations in areas of management theory where race has been less prominent. The goal of this series is to spur novel ideas for the development of new research programs and innovative pedagogical and practitioner approaches. 

January 22, 2021, 11:00am- 12:30pm EST – Racial Justice and Business Schools 

Hosts: Robbin Derry (Lethbridge) & Sharon Alvarez (Pittsburgh) 

registration: www.eventbrite.com/e/… 

Penelope Muzanenhamo (Univ. College Dublin)

Victor Ray (Iowa)

Paul T. Harper (Pittsburgh)

Panel will examine the role of race in business school curricula and research valuation: what topics matter, which research questions are overlooked, whose scholarship is cited.  Leading diversity and inclusion efforts as well as teaching about racial justice in business schools will also be addressed.  

February 12, 2021, 11:00am-noon EST – Racial Justice, Social Theory, and Business Ethics 

Hosts: Paul T. Harper (Pittsburgh) & Cristina Neesham (Newcastle) 

registration: www.eventbrite.com/e/…

Rabbi Gideon Pogrund (Univ. of Pretoria) 

Smriti Sharma (Newcastle)

Paul T. Harper (Pittsburgh) 

Panel will challenge and extend dominant social and political theories operating within business scholarship through a critical engagement with Black studies, post-colonial studies, and global feminism. Diversity professionals will find strategies for building communities of trust across identity boundaries.  

Event Sponsor: Dhillon School of Business, University of Lethbridge

March 5, 2021, 11:00am-noon EST – Racial Justice and Business Technologies 

Hosts: Paul T. Harper (Pittsburgh) & Kirsten Martin (Notre Dame) 

registration www.eventbrite.com/e/…

Alvaro Bedoya (Georgetown) 

Muhammad Ali (Northeastern) 

Ezinne Nwankwo (Cambridge) 

Panel will explore the moral dimensions of technology policy and implementation with an eye toward racial impacts. Issues of fairness and transparency in use of machine learning algorithms used in the high-stakes contexts will be a central theme of the discussion. 

Event Sponsor: University of Notre Dame Technology Ethics Center 

March 26, 2021, 11:00am-noon EST – Racial Justice, History, and Business Ethics 

Hosts: Paul T. Harper (Pittsburgh) & David Wasieleski (Duquesne)

registration: www.eventbrite.com/e/… 

Andrew Smith (Liverpool) 

Jennifer Johns (Bristol) 

Leon Prieto (Clayton State) 

Simone Phipps (Middle Georgia State) 

The panel will provide examples of the ways ahistorical methods and temporal frames expose and occlude the role of race in knowledge creation processes. The Atlantic Slave Trade as a context for understanding current management practices will be discussed as well as the unrecognized history of Black entrepreneurship in the U.S.

May 7, 2021, 11:00-noon EST – Racial Justice and Sustainability

Hosts: Robbin Derry (Lethbridge) and Jeffrey York (Colorado)

registration: www.eventbrite.com/e/…

Carl Zimring (Pratt Institute) 

Irene Henriques (York) 

Mary Beth Doucette (Cape Breton Univ.) 

This panel aims to broaden our perspectives on the relationship between the social and natural environments. It will also deepen our understanding of the conceptual connection between “race” and “waste” in the historical development of public and corporate policies.  

Event Sponsor: Dhillon School of Business, University of Lethbridge 

The SIM Division Racial Justice Web-Forum Series is made possible by the generous support of our lead sponsor: 

The Katz School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh 

Call for Papers: https://www.springer.com/journal/10551/updates/18290364 

Journal of Business Ethics (Financial Times 50) Special Issue on “Racial Justice and Business Ethics” 

Submission Deadline: October 1, 2021 

Guest Editors: Paul T. Harper (Pittsburgh), Robbin Derry (Lethbridge), Gregory Fairchild (Virginia)