
Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ English professor emeritus is one of five people whose likeness is featured on posters promoting diversity and inclusion sent by the to every college undergraduate philosophy program in the United States and Canada.
And he is in excellent company: The other four people featured, each in a separate poster, are American writers and ; British novelist , winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize for literature; and English actor . The posters are part of a of information designed to help departments support philosophy students from underrepresented groups.
Johnson earned his doctorate in philosophy from the State University of New York and is the co-author, with Michael Boylan, of a on philosophy. In that book Johnson quotes French philosopher Albert Camus: “If you want to be a philosopher, write novels.�
He is the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Pollock Endowed Professor of Writing, the author of two dozen books and recipient of numerous honors, including the 1990 National Book Award for his novel “.â€� A stage production of the novel will premiere at Chicago’s in February 2020. Other recent awards and activities include:
- Johnson’s 2018 short story collection “� was a finalist for the 2019 in fiction.
- Actor Levar Burton (“Reading Rainbow,� “Star Trek: The Next Generation�) has recorded a performance of Johnson’s story “Kwoon� for the .
- Johnson published a tribute to novelist , who died in August. She was best known for her 1959 debut novel “.” He suggests that Marshall’s works should be taught widely in schools “for the literary standard she set for 65 years. We owe that to ourselves for generations to come.â€�
Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Notebook is a section of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ News site dedicated to telling stories of the good work done by faculty and staff at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ. Read all posts here.