As part of our commitment to anti-racism and racial equity, the Edina Reads program of the Edina Community Foundation (ECF) and the League of Women Voters of Edina (LWVE) have teamed up to offer a community Zoom book discussion of Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. In this book, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author provides deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a caste system or hierarchy of human rankings, and how this system influences lives, behaviors, and the nation’s fate. The evening will include a presentation by Hamline University professor emerita Veena Deo and small breakout discussions in which attendees can discuss specific questions.
If you need a copy, you are encouraged to support Black Garnet Books, a Black, woman-owned bookstore in the Twin Cities. You can purchase the book via the Bookshop website.
This is a free event but you must pre-register. Please register online by April 24. Space is limited.
Both ECF and LWVE are non-partisan organizations. All community members are invited to participate in their events, free of charge.
About the Presenter
Veena Deo is professor emerita in the English department at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she taught from 1991-2019. At Hamline, her courses were focused on African American literature as well as World Literatures and cross-listed with Social Justice Studies, Women’s Studies, and Global Studies. Having studied in India and the US, she taught for several years in Pune, New Delhi, and in the US, specifically the University of Kentucky and Berea College before joining the Hamline faculty. Her publications include academic articles, poetry, a co-authored play, and translations in Hindi and English. In 2013 she published Motherwit, a translation from Marathi to English of short stories by Dalit writer Urmila Pawar that focuses on experiences with the caste system in India.
Over the years Veena has received many teaching awards at Hamline and supported study abroad programs as well as diversity and inclusion efforts. More recently she has been Director of the Hamline-in-York Programme for Fall 2017 and Director of Multicultural and Diversity Initiatives at Hamline between 2012- 2015.