Common Word Community Read Shawn N. Mendez, Assistant Professor of Sociology “Beyond the Binary: Gender, Sexuality, and Family in the American Caste System”

The Common Word Community Read, curated by Wiley Cash ’00, brings the UNC Asheville community together to engage in a collective educational experience. Each semester, one book will serve as the focus of numerous virtual and in-person lectures and discussions that will allow participants to delve deeper into the text. Join the Facebook Group to learn more and pick up your copy of the first community read: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson.

Join from 12 – 1 p.m in Highsmith Union 229 or watch the livestream on UNC Asheville’s YouTube channel as Dr. Shawn Mendez presents The Common Word Community Reads third faculty lecture of the semester, “Beyond the Binary: Gender, Sexuality, and Family in the American Caste System.”

This event will be the third and final faculty-led lecture for the Fall 2021 Common Word Community Read series. Additional lectures that took place included a talk from Ellen Holmes Pearson, Interim Chair and Professor of History, on “‘ . . . a degraded caste:’ Color and Legal Status in the Early American Republic” (September 28), and a talk from Fabrice Julien, Assistant Professor of Health and Wellness, on “Race Towards An Early Grave: How the American System of Ranking Human Value Drives {consequential} Health Outcomes” (October 19).

Community Expectations

As members of this community, we care about everyone. Faculty, staff, students, and visitors have a shared commitment to take the necessary precautions to avoid spreading COVID-19 while following all recommended health guidelines. Please see UNC Asheville’s Community Expectations. Masks are required of all students, faculty, staff, and visitors.