A group of scholars and educators, including six CEHD alumni and professor Timothy Lensmire from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, are authors of a book that explores whiteness and how it affects antiracist work in education.

Whiteness at the Table: Antiracism, Racism, and Identity in Education (Lexington Books/Rowman & Littlefield, 2018) was co-edited by Shannon K. McManimon, PhD 2014, now at SUNY-New Palz; Zachary A. Casey, PhD 2013, now at Rhodes College; and Christina Berchini at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. The book’s essays focus on whiteness, racism, and antiracism in the context of relationships among children, families, and educators.

Documenting more than a decade of studies on white identities, contributors analyze the intersections of race and issues like religion, privilege, rural education, and antiracist teacher actions.

Additional CEHD alumni authors in the volume include Mary Lee-Nichols, PhD 2012, now at University of Wisconsin-Superior; Audrey Lensmire, PhD 2006, now at Augsburg University; Samuel Jaye Tanner, PhD 2014; now at Pennsylvania State University Altoona; and independent scholar Jessica Dockter Tierney, PhD 2013.

The book grew out of research and scholarship by a group of scholars and educators started by Timothy and Audrey Lensmire in 2009. The Midwest Critical Whiteness Collective has been meeting for almost 10 years, focused on finding more effective ways to work with white people on questions of race and racism.