Criminal Justice, Mass Incarceration and the Undermining of Democracy
Christia Mercer is the Gustave M. Berne Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, general editor of Oxford Philosophical Concepts, and co-editor of Oxford New Histories of Philosophy, a book series devoted to making philosophy more inclusive. The lecture is free and opened to the public March 30 at 7 p.m. in Todd Hall, room 216.She has published widely in the history of philosophy. Professor Mercer has become increasingly involved in activist causes with special interest in rethinking criminal justice and access to higher education. She was the first professor to teach in prison as part of Columbia University’s Justice-in-Education Initiative and publishes regularly on the need to make higher education more widely available and on justice reform. Among other awards, she is the recipient of Guggenheim, ACLS and Humboldt Fellowships. She has been honored with Columbia’s two most prestigious teaching awards, the 2008 Columbia College Great Teacher Award, and the 2012 Mark van Doren Award, which annually recognizes a professor for “commitment to undergraduate instruction, as well as for humanity, devotion to truth and inspiring leadership.”
