Mind sciences explore Ferguson, racial bias and policing March 27

What do scholars of philosophy, psychology, neuroscience and other sciences of the mind have to say to St. Louis and the nation that can help us understand and eliminate the effects of racial bias in policing?

That’s the question to be explored in a free campus forum on “Policing, Race, and Mind: Ferguson and Beyond” to be held from 2-5 p.m. March 27 in Wilson Hall, Room 214, on the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis.

Sponsored by the Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology (PNP) program in Arts & Sciences, the program will bring students and scholars from local universities together to assess the extent of racial bias in policing and to examine the psychological and social factors that give rise to racial bias and either exacerbate or inhibit its effects on police behaviors and procedures.

Participants also will discuss concrete steps that police and communities can take to undo the causes and effects of racial bias in policing.

Washington University participants include John G. Baugh, PhD, the Margaret Bush Wilson Professor in Arts & Sciences; Alan Lambert, PhD, associate professor of psychology in Arts & Sciences; Vetta L. Sanders Thompson, PhD, professor in the Brown School; and Robert Williams, PhD, professor emeritus of psychology in Arts & Sciences.

Also participating are Kira Hudson Banks, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at Saint Louis University, and members of St. Louis Students in Solidarity, a coalition of students from several local universities focused on engaging students in local and national actions and conversations about race and injustice.

For more information, visit the Policing, Race, and Mind forum website.