Book Banning on the Rise

Scholars Marilisa Jiménez García, William Gleason and Jonathan Zimmerman discuss the current rise of book banning in the United States in historical and contemporary context. Virtual only.

This virtual program explores the rise of book banning in America. Against the backdrop of an unprecedented surge in efforts to ban books, a panel of experts will examine the topic in both historical and contemporary context. This event will be held via Zoom Webinar. To register, click here.

Presented in partnership with Labyrinth Books.

Marilisa Jiménez García is an Associate Professor of Children’s Literature at Simmons University. She is the author of “Side by Side: US Empire, Puerto Rico, and the Roots of Youth Literature and Culture” (University Press of Mississippi, 2021). She researches the role of youth literature in education and racial justice struggles in the US, and was the founding director of the Institute on Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at Lehigh University. Jiménez García’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Refinery 21, Children’s Literature, and Latino Studies.

Bill Gleason is the Hughes-Rogers Professor of English and American Studies at Princeton University. A specialist in U.S. literary and cultural history, he teaches courses on children’s literature, popular culture, and the environmental humanities. He is the author and/or co-editor of five books, including “The Pocket Instructor: Literature,” a collection of active learning exercises for the college literature classroom.

Jonathan Zimmerman is Professor of History of Education and the Berkowitz Professor in Education at the University of Pennsylvania. A former Peace Corps volunteer and high school teacher, Zimmerman is the author of nine books, including “Free Speech and Why You Should Give a Damn” (with illustrations by Signe Wilkinson) and “The Amateur Hour: A History of College Teaching in America.” In fall 2022, University of Chicago Press will publish a revised 20th-anniversary edition of Zimmerman’s 2002 book, “Whose America? Culture Wars in the Public Schools.” Zimmerman is also a frequent oped contributor to the Washington Post, the New York Review of Books, and other popular magazines and newspapers. He has appeared on the Joe Rogan Show and dozens of other podcasts, television shows, and radio spots. Zimmerman previously taught for 20 years at New York University, where he received its Distinguished Teaching Award in 2008.

Presented with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this programming do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.