The Right to Read

The Right to Read

High school reporters, librarians, educators and booksellers — Banned Books Fellows report on how various communities have responded to book bans across the U.S., as well as the frequent targets of bans.

The Center for the Humanities’ first cohort of Banned Books Fellows has spent the semester researching book bans in K–12 education, the motivations and political influence behind educational censorship, and the ways students, librarians and educators are fighting back on this mounting issue in American education. Join us for a discussion of their findings and for resources for advocating for academic freedom in your community. Dinner will be served; please RSVP by clicking the button below.

Speakers

Wyatt Byers

Wyatt Byers is a first-year student planning to major in English and the pre-law track. He is following up with high-school newspaper reporters in public districts in St. Louis County to see how they have covered these issues in their own schools.

Delaney Dardet

Delaney Dardet is a fourth-year major in communication design, with minors in psychology and educational studies. For her project, she is returning to her home county in Florida to interview booksellers and librarians about how they’ve adapted during this surge of book bans and found ways to advocate for educational freedom.

Ava Giere

Ava Giere is a first-year student planning to major in political science and English. She is looking into the money flowing into school board elections via various advocacy groups and the ensuing impacts on book ban policies.

Raelani Hartnett

Raelani Hartnett is a fourth-year psychology major, with minors in American culture studies and film and media studies). She is analyzing the impacts of limiting books on topics of queer sexuality and assessing how students in districts with limited sex education might use literature to learn about essential health topics. 

Betty Lee

Betty Lee a first-year undeclared major. She is interested in the racial politics of book banning and is investigating the landscape of book bans in prisons.

David Win

David Win is a second-year student majoring in sociology and English. He is conducting mapping analysis to compare districts in Missouri with known book bans against some socioeconomic/identity factors. 

 

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