Harvard professor to speak about diversity

CONTACT: Ellen Chang
PHONE:
(713) 348-6777
EMAIL: ellenc@rice.edu

HARVARD PROFESSOR TO
SPEAK ABOUT DIVERSITY

Well-known Harvard
University professor Cornel West will discuss his views on diversity in the
millennium at a lecture on April 16 at Rice University.

West will speak about a
“Dialog On Diversity.” The lecture begins at 7 p.m. in the Grand Hall in Rice
Memorial Center. West will be available at a 6 p.m. reception and at the book
signing following his speech.

West is the author of 13
books, including “Race Matters,” a best seller that received attention from Time
and Newsweek, which each featured a profile of him. His other works include
“Beyond Eurocentrism and Multiculturism,” “Breaking Bread,” “Keeping Faith,”
“Jews and Blacks: Let the Healing Begin” and “Restoring Hope: Conversations on
the Future of Black America.” He also wrote “The War Against Parents” with
Sylvia Ann Hewlett, with whom he co-chairs the National Parenting Association’s
Talk Force on Parent Empowerment. His most recent publication, “The Cornel West
Reader,” traces the development of his career as an academic, intellectual and
activist.

He is the Alphonse
Fletcher Jr. Professor at Harvard, where he was promoted recently to university
professor, a title held by only 14 of the school’s 2,200 faculty members. He
teaches Afro-American studies and philosophy of religion.

West’s work which is
influenced by traditions as diverse as the Baptist Church, American
transcendentalism and literature, the Black Panthers and European philosophy,
seeks to revive the best of liberalism, populism and democratic socialism. A
well-respected and popular lecturer, West’s speaking style – formed by his roots
in the Baptist Church – provides a blend of drama, knowledge and
inspiration.

West attended public
schools in Sacramento and then went to Harvard, where he graduated magna cum
laude in three years in 1973. He went on to Princeton, earning his master’s
degree in 1975 and his doctorate in 1980.

The lecture is hosted by
the Black Graduate Student Association, the Jones School and the Rice University
Black Student Coalition, which consists of members of the Black Student
Association, the Black Graduate Student Association and the Rice chapter of the
National Society of Black Engineers. The group organized West’s lecture in an
effort to initiate a dialog on diversity in the new millennium.
The lecture
sets the stage for the Enhancing Black Leadership Conference, which begins on
April 27 and is hosted by the National Black MBA Association, the Jesse H. Jones
Graduate School of Management and Rice University Executive Education. For more
information on the conference, call (713) 348-6060.

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