Ric Sheffield is Professor Emeritus of Legal Studies and Sociology at Kenyon College.  In addition to having served as Associate Provost of the College, he is the Director of Kenyon’s Law & Society Program and the John Adams Summer Scholars Program in Socio-legal Studies.  His research has focused upon the relationship between law and issues of gender, race, and ethnicity.  He has lectured widely on issued of race and law as well as African Americans in rural Ohio.

Diversity in the Heartland: Examining Race and Empathy with Expanding Rural Diversity in Small-town America

Rural Ohio has been home to various racial and ethnic groups, albeit in small numbers, from the earliest days of settlement of the region by non-indigenous persons.  This absence of a significant numerical presence resulted in the lives and experiences of these people being largely overlooked, if not outright ignored, by the mainstream press, academicians, and local historians.  For most nonwhite persons, there were few of the traditional draws to settle in this area: no specialized labor or economic attractions; no existing ethnic or cultural enclaves; and few familial ties.  As a consequence, racial and cultural differences became and have remained major factors in how communities are organized and experienced.  This program seeks to interrogate the ways that rural diversity has been manifested and experienced in small-town Ohio.  It also looks to challenge assumptions about racial intolerance, raising the possibility that residents of rural areas may be as well equipped to respond to increasing diversity within their communities as the people who live in metropolitan areas that demographically appear on their face to be more welcoming of persons of different backgrounds.  Small towns don’t have to mean small minds.

The Community Within: Discovering African American History in Rural Ohio

Many rural areas in Ohio have long-established black communities that are often invisible to the larger white communities in which they reside.  This program relates the adventure of reclaiming the lost history of African Americans in Knox County, Ohio while explaining the benefits of including minority populations within celebrations of heritage and sharing strategies for undertaking such projects in communities of various sizes and racial and ethnic makeups.  This talk provides a template and roadmap for examining the experience of racial minorities in rural communities.

A History of Race and the Right to Vote in Reconstruction Ohio

The right to vote, long hailed as the embodiment, sine qua non, of liberty in American society has special historical significance for persons of African descent in the United States and Ohio, in particular.  It was the quest for this quintessential right of citizenship, perhaps even more so than ethereal notions of equality generally, that undergirds some of the most significant episodes in the annals of America’s civil rights struggle.  In weighing the often-dire consequences of resistance against the potential gains thought to reside in the elective franchise, Black Americans, even in Ohio, literally risked life, limb, and livelihood to claim their places at the polls.

A Job Well… (not yet) Done:  A Time to Remember Dr. King and the Nation’s Incomplete Civil Rights Legacy

Each year, the nation pauses to reflect upon the enduring legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  It is important to remember that his vision transcended the mere hope for racial equality.  While he prompted us to be vigilant about inequalities throughout the U.S., we must acknowledge that there have been promises made and not yet kept in the name of civil rights and social justice.  This talk is intended to remind the audience that there were, in fact, lessons learned from the hard work of many good persons who were committed to making this nation become the bastion of freedom that it claims to be.  It is important to recognize in this great country of plenty that the job is not yet done and that we all have a role to play.

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TO SCHEDULE A PRESENTATION , PLEASE CONTACT:

Ric S. Sheffield
sheffier@kenyon.edu
(740) 427-5852