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Topic: Christianity and Wokeism
Date: 24 October 2024, 7.30pm to 9pm
Venue: Bible House, 7 Armenian St, Singapore 179932  
Speaker: Dr Suzanne Choo Shen Li (Assoc Prof)

About the session

Woke is on rise! Since the late twentieth century, key movements in the West such as Black Lives Matter, #metoo, climate activism have drawn attention to forms of racism, sexism, and other forms of injustice. The United Nations reports that young people today are more civically engaged in social and political causes than before. At the same time, Wokeism has taken on an aggressive tone leading to the calling out and cancelling of others under the mask of diversity and inclusivity. In the first part of my presentation, I explore the historical roots of Wokeism linking this to what I observe has been the intensification of postmodern skepticism and individualism since the end of the second world war. These trends highlight an increasing resistance to truth and community. When wokeism is combined with post-truth and postmodern self-righteousness, the consequence can become toxic and polarizing. In the second part of my presentation, I explore a Christian response to Wokeism through an examination of the interconnections between truth, justice and love in the bible. I discuss how the church can out-narrate secular Wokeism by doing justice and loving mercy (Micha 6:8) in ways that call out sin to call in the sinner through a spirit of redemption and restoration.

About the speaker

Dr Suzanne Choo is Head of Research at the Singapore Centre for Character and Citizenship Education and Associate Professor at the English Language and Literature department at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She completed her PhD in English Education at Columbia University in the United States. She is about to complete her Master of Arts in Theology and Integrative Studies at the Biblical Graduate School of Theology in Singapore. She was twice awarded the Excellence in Teaching Commendation award by her university in 2016 and 2021. Her research interests are in the areas of critical theory and cultural studies, particularly in relation to ethics and education. Her book, Reading the world, the globe, and the cosmos: Approaches to teaching literature for the twenty-first century, was awarded the Critics Choice Book Award by the American Educational Studies Association. She has published in several top-tiered journals including Harvard Educational Review, Reading Research Quarterly, Journal of Moral Education, Critical Studies in Education among others. Her latest book is titled When woke goes broke: Redeeming social justice for the church published by Graceworks (2024).