Politics Lab of the James L. Farmer House
The Politics Lab of the James L. Farmer House at Huston-Tillotson University (the Lab for short also sometimes the Farmer House), supporting University collaborations drawing on bold responsive inclusive community as a model of teaching and learning; research; public policy; and public engagement.
University Institute
Huston-Tillotson University’s Politics Lab of the James L. Farmer House, founded in 2022, honors the life and legacy of the American civil rights luminary, James L. Farmer, Jr. Farmer traces his roots as a child to Austin, Texas, and Samuel Huston College, now Huston-Tillotson University, where his father, Dr. James L. Farmer, Sr., was a faculty member, serving from 1925-1930. A historical marker commemorating Farmer, Jr.’s life sits at the home in East Austin where the Farmer family lived. The home is only blocks from Huston-Tillotson University. Farmer, Jr. founded the Congress of Racial Equity (CORE), a cornerstone organization of the American civil rights movement. CORE pioneered the use of nonviolent direct action, organizing the 1961 Freedom Rides that took an integrated group through the Deep South.
A Vision of American Democracy
Bold responsive inclusive community is a vision of a democratic society from the American civil rights movement and other movements for freedom in American history. The vision is encapsulated in the image of the “Farmer House,” the moniker for the home in Austin, Texas, only blocks from the University, where luminary civil rights leader James L. Farmer, Jr. lived as a child. Located on the campus of the University, the new institute, the Lab, is less a physical place than social “head and heart” cognitive cultural analytical space for exploration of a powerful idea, bold responsive inclusive community as the vision for a democratic society. At the Lab we understand bold responsive inclusive community to be a core American cultural belief; a deeply held basic first principle of American democracy. What does bold responsive inclusive community look like in higher education practice, in models and methodologies of research, public policy, and public engagement? How does the model, the methodology, bold responsive inclusive community, address equity concerns, disparities in education, housing, the environment, employment, and more, which disproportionately impact life outcomes for communities of color? What are limitations of the model in a modern, complex, technological, (post) industrial society? These are the types of questions Lab stakeholders will seek to answer. The Lab will help collaborations on campus and beyond to develop and grow, drawing on concrete practical examples today and from the past. Work like this is timely and important. Bold responsive inclusive community provides a framework for addressing public problems, tapping the power of people, communities, and government. The framework offers a way through the polarization Americans face today, drawing upon meanings and commitments that speak to the moment of democratic peril in the twenty first century that Americans find themselves in.
