Michael Eric Dyson
The University of Central Arkansas will host Dr. Michael Eric Dyson for a speakers forum and keynote address on Monday, April 15, in McCastlain Ballroom on the BT天堂campus.
Dyson’s appearance at BT天堂will begin at 2:15 p.m. in McCastlain Ballroom with the Alpha Kappa Delta Sociology Honors Society (AKD) Speakers Forum. The forum’s topic, “Fake News, Public Discourse, and Seeking Truth in America,” will feature Dyson in conversation with Dr. Heather Yates, BT天堂assistant professor of political science. A Q&A session will follow.
Later, starting at 7 p.m., Dyson will deliver a keynote address to the public in McCastlain Ballroom, expanding on the forum topic of seeking truth in the current political and cultural climate. Both the afternoon forum and the evening address are free and open to the public, but attendees are encouraged to RSVP at .
Dyson is a Georgetown University sociology professor, but his influence has spread far beyond the academy. For the last quarter of a century, Dyson has enlivened public debate across the media landscape as an acclaimed author of 19 books, highly sought after lecturer, and national media fixture. As for Dyson鈥檚 latest book, 鈥淲hat Truth Sounds Like,鈥� The Washington Post states that it is passionately written and that “Dyson’s larger purpose is to reflect on the relevance of the dynamic it represented 鈥� speaking truth to power 鈥� in the current racial and political climate.”聽Dyson’s remarkable ascent 鈥� from a factory worker who didn鈥檛 start college until he was 21 to a Princeton Ph.D. 鈥� may help explain why writer Naomi Wolf terms him 鈥渢he ideal public intellectual of our time.”
“Having an engaging speaker and scholar like Dr. Dyson come to BT天堂is an extraordinary opportunity for all of us at BT天堂and the surrounding community,” said Dr. Douglas George, BT天堂associate professor of sociology and AKD faculty adviser. “Everyone needs to come hear him speak. I promise you he is going to challenge us to do better but at the same time offer us hope.”
The speakers forum is part of a research and service project on the spread of deceptive information online and what can be done about it, initiated by a BT天堂AKD research team. “The project serves to not only showcase the educational achievements of BT天堂students,鈥� said George, “but a real desire of BT天堂students to help engage the community on a pressing issue of the day. I am constantly impressed with what our students can accomplish.”
Co-sponsors of the event are the BT天堂Department of Sociology, Criminology, and Anthropology, BT天堂NAACP, BT天堂Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, the BT天堂College of Liberal Arts and the BT天堂Office of the Provost. The event is funded in part by the BT天堂Student Government Association, a grant from the BT天堂Foundation and a Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship.
For more information about Dyson鈥檚 visit, contact Dr. Doug George at dougg@uca.edu or Dr. Ed Powers at epowers@uca.edu, or call (501) 450-3178. RSVP for both events at .
