Digital Commons@DePaul

Thinking through the Web … in Black

Every academic and intellectual (they’re not the same), it seems, needs a website these days. That is a testament to social media, digital communications, and, of course, the ever-present “market.” Yet, there are many among us who avoid this medium primarily because of concerns of privacy or distaste for what is often self-promotion. Such is the circumstance of commodified intellectual practice where even “praxis” is for sale. Yet, the situation need not be either dismal or futile. There is always much for intellectuals, especially those committed to social transformation in the interests of freedom and dignity, to do, and this talk will explore some of those possibilities from the experiences and reflections of an Africana philosopher who appreciates, albeit cautiously so, the potential of digital and social media, as these links, which could be used for context and critique, attest:http://lewisrgordon.com/audio-video/, http://lewisrgordon.com/sketches/, andhttp://lewisrgordon.com/selected-articles/.