George YancySamuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Philosophy

• PhD, Philosophy, Duquesne University, (With Distinction) 
• M.A, Africana Studies, New York University
• M.A, Philosophy, Yale University
• B.A , Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh, (Cum Laude)

• Critical Philosophy of Race
• Critical Whiteness Studies
• Critical Phenomenology (especially racial embodiment)
• African-American Philosophy and Philosophy of the Black Experience

• Until Our Lungs Give Out: Conversations on Race, Justice, and the Future (2023) was selected as a 2024 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title.
• I am honored to have been interviewed for (and appear in) the Netflix film entitled Power. I was interviewed by Oscar nominated director and producer Yance Ford. The film is officially out on Netflix on May 17, 2024. Here is the trailer.  
• The book Until Our Lungs Give Out: Conversations on Race, Justice, and the Future was selected as one of the Library Journal's Best Books of 2023.
  
• Black Men from Behind the Veil: Ontological Interrogations was selected by CHOICE as a “Top 75 Community College Title,” under Social & Behavioral Sciences (November 2022)
• Visiting Scholar at Allegheny College, sponsored by the Bywater Fund for Social Justice Programming (Fall 2022)
• Received a "non-traditional" honor from the anonymous artist "Belove" who painted a portrait mural of me in Denver, Colorado, "I Am George Yancy."  Shared by photographer Peter Kowalchuk.
• Awarded a Senior Fellowship by the Bill and Carol Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry, 2021-2022. 
• In 2021, honored through the publication of George Yancy:  A Critical Introduction. Edited by Kimberley Ducey, Clevis Headley, and Joe R. Feagin, with Foreword by Judith Butler (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021).  The book consists of multiple essays by various scholars engaging my philosophical corpus.   
• Visiting Scholar at Cornell University's School of Criticism and Theory (June-July 2021).
• In 2021, Cited at Academic Influence as one of the top 10 influential philosophers in the last 10 years, 2010-2020, based upon the number of citations and web presence.
• 2019-20 University of Pennsylvania's Inaugural Provost's Distinguished Visiting Faculty Fellow.
• 2019 (to the present) Endowed Chair Appointment as the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Philosophy at Emory University.
• 2019 Distinguished Montgomery Fellow at Dartmouth College, one of the college’s highest honors.
• Delivered the 2019 Griffith Endowed Lecture: "Black Vulnerability and white Backlash," George Washington University. 
• In 2017, Our Black Sons Matter was listed by Booklist as a Top 10 Diverse Nonfiction book.
• In 2016, "Dear White America" in The Stone (The New York Times) won the American Philosophical Association Committee on Public Philosophy's Op-Ed Contest.
• In 2014, Diversity Scholar in Residence at Alleghany College (fall semester). 
• In 2014, "Walking While Black in the White Gaze" in The Stone (The New York Times) won the American Philosophical Association Committee on Public Philosophy's Op-Ed Contest.
• In 2013, became Founding Editor of Philosophy of Race Book Series at Lexington Books.
• NEH Award through the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts, 2012.
• Nominated for the Duquesne University Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarship, 2012.
• Duquesne University McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts Award for Excellence in Scholarship, 2012.
• CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book Title, 2009.
• Honorable Mention from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights, 2008.
• Nominated for the Duquesne University Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarship, 2008.
• Duquesne University McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship, 2008.
• 2007-2013, Creator and Coordinator of the Critical Race Theory Speaker Series at Duquesne University. 
• Wimmer Family Foundation Grant to complete authored book, Black Bodies, White Gazes: The Continuing Significance of Race, Duquesne University, 2006.
• First junior faculty member at Duquesne University to receive Honorable Mention for College Excellence in Faculty Scholarship, Duquesne University, 2006.
• CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book Title, 2005.
• Awarded Duquesne University Dissertation Writing Fellowship, 2004.
• Awarded Distinguished Henry M. MacCracken Fellowship, New York University, 2003.
• Award for Excellence in Scholarship by a Graduate Student, Duquesne University, 2000.
• CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book Title, 1999.
• Awarded Inaugural Distinguished McAnulty Fellowship in the Department of Philosophy, Duquesne University, 1999–2003.
• Awarded Yale University Fellowship, 1987–1990.

Keynote Speaker for "The Ethics of Remembering/Re-membering Trauma Conference." The Rock Ethics Institute, Penn State University. Paper entitled, "The Traumatized Black Body and the Lie of White 'Innocence.'" August 2, 2022. 

Keynote Speaker (one of three) for the 11th Meeting of the Luce Irigaray Circle: Thresholds of Sexual Difference, at Mercer University. The two other Keynote Speakers were Lynne Huffer and Kristin Sampson. Paper entitled,  "The Violence of Whiteness: Irigarayan Wonder?" May 20, 2022. 

Keynote Speaker (one of three) for the conference entitled, "In the Wake of the Plague: Eros and Mourning," at Dartmouth College. The two other Keynote Speakers included Arlene Saxonhouse and Slavoj Žižek. My paper was entitled, "Whiteness as Plague." April 23, 2022.   

Keynote Speaker for the Benjamin Rabinowitz Symposium in Medical Ethics on "Race, Health and Justice" at the University of Washington (philosophy Department). My Paper: "The Black Body and the Trauma of Whiteness." April 15, 2022. 

Keynote Speaker for the South Carolina Society for Philosophy and the North Carolina Philosophical Society at Converse University.  Paper: "Black Embodiment and the Violence of Whiteness." March 26, 2022. 

Keynote Speaker for the 5th Conference of the International Alfred Schutz Circle for Phenomenology and Interpretive Sociology. Theme: “The Experience of the Stranger: The Struggle to Find a Home and the Struggle to Welcome the Stranger.” Paper: “The Danger of White Innocence.” June 4, 2021.  

Keynote Speaker for the theme: Racial Equity and Religions. The event was hosted by the Consortium for Christian-Muslim Dialogue & the Duquesne University Interfaith Student Organization. My talk explored the question of whiteness, religiosity, and racism. March 18, 2021. 

Keynote Speaker, and second presenter, of the launch at Humboldt State University's Presidential Speaker Series. Entitled talk: "Between Pessimism and Optimism: White Crisis."  March 10, 2021. 

Keynote Speaker (and in conversation with Gail Lewis). Talk entitled, "A Letter of Love: An Encounter with White Backlash." Conference theme: Building the Anti-Racist Classroom. Sponsored by BARC and The Center for Research on Equality and Diversity (CRED) at Queen Mary University of London. October 25, 2019.

Keynote Speaker at Villanova University's 21st International Conference on Ethics Across the Curriculum. Theme: Race and Justice in America. Talk entitled, "White Backlash: White Innocence?" October 11, 2019.

Keynote Speaker at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne in Paris, France. Conference on whiteness. Talk entitled, "The End of White Innocence." October 4, 2019.

Keynote Speaker at the University of Pennsylvania. Talk Title: "A Letter of Love and White Backlash." The event was sponsored by The Slought Foundation, The School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania, The Alice Paul Center for Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, the Greater Philadelphia Philosophy Consortium, and Penn's New Student Orientation initiative. April 18, 2019.

Keynote Speaker at Clemson University's Embodiment and Race Conference. Talk Title: "Whiteness, Racism, and Bodily 'Edges.'" April 12, 2019.

Keynote Speaker for the 24th Annual Meeting of the North American Sartre Society. Theme of conference: Existentialism and Resistance. Talk title: "No Exist and the End of White Innocence," October 27, 2018.

Keynote Speaker for LaGuardia Community College's 8th CUNY Undergraduate Philosophy Conference, April 20, 2018.

Keynote Speaker for "HBCUs and Philosophy IV Conference: Philosophy, Race, and Resistance" held at Morgan State University. Talk entitled, "A Letter of Love: An Encounter with White Backlash." April 7, 2018.

Keynote Speaker for "A Day for Learning and Speaking Out: Resistance, Protest, and Civil Disobedience" held at Duquesne University. Talked entitled, "My Letter to White America: The Toll of Resistance." March 21, 2018.

Keynote Speaker for "A Night of Philosophy & Ideas." Co-presented by the Brooklyn Public Library and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy. Talk entitled, "The Practice of Philosophy in an Age of Moral Crisis." January 27, 2018. View on YouTube.

Keynote Speaker at the Royal College of Art, London, UK. Conference entitled, What Should White Culture Do? Title of Talk: "Black Bodies, White Gazes: The Breakdown of Whiteness." November 11, 2017. View on YouTube.

Keynote Speaker for the Inaugural Donald Blake Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Culture at Walla Walla University, April 20, 2017.

Keynote Speaker for Speaking the Unspeakable: A Conversation on Colorblindness, Racism, and Antiracism at Arizona State University. Talk entitled: "Removing the Mask of Whiteness." February 17, 2017.

Keynote Speaker of the MLK Convocation at Le Moyne College, January 26, 2017.

Keynote Speaker for the Annual MLK Community Service Award, Emory University, January 19, 2017.

Keynote Speaker for the Southern Illinois University, Edwardville's 11th Annual Undergraduate Philosophy Conference. Talk entitled: "Dear White America." October 21, 2016.

Keynote Speaker for The Joyce Mitchell Cook Conference. Yale University. Talk entitled: "Joyce Mitchell Cook: Autobiographical and Philosophical Fragments." December 4, 2015.

Keynote speaker for The California Roundtable on Philosophy and Race. University of Dayton. Talk entitled, "Bodies that can't Breathe: How does it Feel to be a Problem?" October 24, 2015.

Keynote speaker for the English Graduate Organization's Annual Interdisciplinary Conference. Talk entitled, "Whiteness and the Ontological Inequality of the Black Body." Indiana University of Pennsylvania, March, 2014.

Keynote speaker for the Society of Adventist Philosophers. "Speaking from Behind the Veil: Whiteness as Anti-Theological." The conference theme was Essentialism: Adventism and Questions of Race and Gender. November, 21, 2013.

Keynote speaker for the Philosophy Department at Villanova University. "Theorizing Racial Embodiment Within Everyday Spaces," Villanova University, September 20, 2013.

Keynote Speaker ("Racism as an Obstacle to Unity") for the Annual OMA Unity Banquet and Scholarship Benefit, April 12, 2013.

Keynote speaker for the Kent State University May 4th Philosophy Graduate Student Conference, Twentieth Anniversary. Paper entitled: "How it Feels to be a Racial Problem." Kent State University, March 16, 2013.

Keynote speaker for the Inaugural Frederick Douglass Philosophy Conference. Paper entitled: "Coming Lithe into the World and Being a Black Philosopher." West Chester University, October, 26, 2012.

Keynote speaker for the Iowa Philosophical Society Conference. Paper entitled: "White Gazes: The Gift and Problem of Seeing Differently." Drake University, October 20, 2012.

Keynote speaker for Philosopher Bill Bywater's retirement at Allegheny College, "Courageous Listening and the Importance of a White Ally," April 20, 2012.

Keynote speaker for the annual meeting of the University Council for Educational Administration. Paper entitled: -Educational Leadership and the Color-Line,' November 18, 2011.

Keynote speaker at the North American Undergraduate Conference in Religion and Philosophy held at Saint Francis University. Theme of conference: -Race in America.' March 25, 2011.

Keynote address (-King on Radical Love-) for -An Evening of Prayer, Song, and Inspiration in Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.' at Duquesne University, January 21, 2008.

Philosophy of Race Book Series Editor at Lexington Books

Click here for information on the Philosophy of Race book series.

Authored, Edited, and Co-edited Books

• Third edition of authored book, Black Bodies, White Gazes, The Continuing Significance of Race in America (Rowman & Littlefield, an imprint of Bloomsbury, 2025).
• In Sheep's Clothing: The Idolatry of White Christian Nationalism. Edited by George Yancy and Bill Bywater. Separate introductions by George Yancy and Bill Bywater; Forword by J. Kameron Carter. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield (2024). 
• Until Our Lungs Give Out: Conversations on Race, Justice, and the Future (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023)
• Black Men from Behind the Veil: Ontological Interrogations. Edited with Introduction by George Yancy (Lexington Books, 2022). 
• Across Black Spaces: Essays and Interviews by an American Philosopher. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield (2020)
• Educating for Critical Consciousness. Edited with Introduction by George Yancy. New York: Routledge (2019)
• Buddhism and Whiteness: Critical Perspectives. Co-edited and co-authored Introduction with Emily McRae. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books (2019)
• Backlash: What Happens When We Talk Honestly about Racism in America (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018).
• On Race: 34 Conversations in a Time of Crisis (Oxford University Press, 2017) 
• Second edition of authored book, Black Bodies, White Gazes, The Continuing Significance of Race in America (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017)
• Coedited book, Our Black Sons Matter: Mother's Talk About Fears, Sorrows, and Hopes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016) (This book was a STARRED Review and was included in the Booklist Top 10 List of the Best Diverse Nonfiction Titles in 2017)
• White Self-Criticality beyond Anti-Racism: How Does It Feel to Be a White Problem? Edited with introduction by George Yancy. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books (2015)
• Exploring Race in Predominantly White Classrooms: Scholars of Color Reflect (Critical Social Thought Series). Co-edited with Maria Del Guadalupe Davidson. Introduction by George Yancy; Afterword by Maria Del Guadalupe Davidson. New York: Routledge (2014)
• Pursuing Trayvon Martin: Historical Contexts and Contemporary Manifestations of Racial Dynamics. Co-edited and co-authored Introduction with Janine Jones and additional submission of chapter. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books (2013). The first paperback edition of this book was published in 2014 along with a New Preface Written by the Editors.
• Look, A White! Philosophical Essays on Whiteness. (Foreword by Naomi Zack) Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press (2012)
• Christology and Whiteness: What Would Jesus Do? Edited with Introduction by George Yancy. New York: Routledge (2012)
• Reframing the Practice of Philosophy: Bodies of Color, Bodies of Knowledge. Edited with Introduction and chapter by George Yancy. SUNY Press (2012)
• Therapeutic Uses of Rap and Hip-Hop. Co-edited and co-authored Introduction with Susan Hadley. New York: Routledge (2011)
• The Center Must Not Hold: White Women Philosophers on the Whiteness of Philosophy. (Foreword by Sandra Harding) Edited with Introduction by George Yancy. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books (2010). The first paperback edition of this book was published in 2011. 
• Critical Perspectives on bell hooks (Critical Social Thought Series). Co-edited with Maria Del Guadalupe Davidson.  Co-authored Introduction and additional submission of chapter. New York: Routledge (2009).
• Black Bodies, White Gazes: The Continuing Significance of Race. (Foreword by Linda Alcoff) Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield (2008). (Received Honorable Mention from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights)
• Philosophy in Multiple Voices. Edited with Introduction by George Yancy. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield (2007). (Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book Award for 2009)
• Narrative Identities: Psychologists Engaged in Self-Construction. Co-edited with Susan Hadley. Preface by Yancy and Hadley. London: Jessica Kingsley Press (2005)
• White on White/Black on Black. (Foreword by Cornel West) Edited with Introduction and chapter by George Yancy. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield (2005). (Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book Award for 2005)
• What White Looks Like: African American Philosophers on the Whiteness Question. Edited with Introduction and chapter by George Yancy. New York: Routledge (2004)
• The Philosophical I: Personal Reflections on Life in Philosophy. Edited with Introduction and chapter by George Yancy. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield (2002)
• Cornel West: A Critical Reader. (Afterword by Cornel West) Edited with Introduction and chapter by George Yancy. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers (2001)
• African-American Philosophers: 17 Conversations. Edited with Introduction, and all interviews conducted by George Yancy. New York: Routledge, 1998. (Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book Award for 1999).

The New York Times and Truthout articles and interviews