Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration
2010 Events
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
Professor, Author, and Religious & Cultural Studies Expert
2010 Keynote Speaker
“Whether examining the life of Dr. King… the art of Marvin Gaye and Tupac Shakur… the devastation and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina… or the socio-economic and racial issues affecting our society… Professor Dyson brings us along in the unflinching quest to uncover truth and to speak it—especially to power.” --John J. DeGioia, Georgetown University President
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 Events
MLK Luncheon w/ Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
12:00-1:30 P.M.
Kasbeer Hall, 25 E. Pearson
Water Tower Campus
MLK Keynote Lecture w/ Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
5:00 P.M.
Location TBA
Lake Shore Campus
No registration is necessary for either event but please arrive early as space is limited.
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
Michael Eric Dyson is an African American, religious and cultural studies scholar, university professor, best-selling author and public intellectual. Dyson, who has taught at Chicago Theological Seminary, Brown University, the University of North Carolina and Columbia University is presently the Ida B. Wells-Barnett University Professor at DePaul University.
Dyson received his B.A. in philosophy, magnum cum laude, from Carson-Newman College, and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in religion from Princeton University. His commentary on American culture has landed him on Nightline, Charlie Rose, Good Morning America, Today, and Oprah. He has also been heard on every major show on National Public Radio. He has written for numerous academic publications, including Cultural Critique, Cultural Studies, DePaul Law Review, The Leadership Quarterly, New Art Examiner, JAC: A Journal of Composition Theory, Transition, Social Text, Religion and Literature, Theology Today, Union Seminary Quarterly Review, Princeton Seminary Bulletin and Black Sacred Music.
Dyson has been hailed for both his intellectual acuity and rhetorical gifts. As the Chronicle of Higher Education said, "He can rivet classroom(s) and chapel(s) alike with his oratory." He has been called "one of the youngest stars in the firmament of black intellectuals" and lauded as "one of the most important voices of his generation." According to the Village Voice, Dyson possesses an "irresistible preacher's cadence and cast-iron memory." His books have gained wide critical and public acclaim from scholars and journalists alike. About his writing, Time magazine says, "in his prose one hears the fervor of a Sunday sermon; in his ideas one sees the analytic scrupulousness of a man who knows a thing or two about tenure committees."
Dyson's 1993 debut, Reflecting Black: African-American Culture Criticism won the Gustavus Myers Center for Human Rights Award in 1994. His critically acclaimed follow-up, 1994's Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X, was hailed as "a study that is as substantive and comprehensive as public criticism of such a figure can hope to be," and was named Notable Book of 1994 by both The New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Dyson is also author of the acclaimed Between God and Gangsta Rap: Bearing Witness to Black Culture, was named a "Best Bet" in USA Today, and the national best-seller Race Rules: Navigating the Color Line, which has been praised as "an important document for the end of the century." In January 2000, the Free Press published Dyson's I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr.
He has also written for scores of mass publications, including The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Vibe magazine and Rolling Stone. Dyson has also been written about in Time, U.S. News and World Report, USA Today, Current Biography, and the New Yorker, and he has been featured in Essence, The Village Voice and on the cover of the Chronicle of Higher Education. Dyson has lectured across the nation and throughout the world in countless colleges, universities and public auditoriums. He won the 1992 Award of Excellence for Magazines from the National Association of Black Journalists.
The 2010 MLK Celebration is sponsored by the Department of Student Diversity and Multicultural Affairs and University Ministry.
Back to SDMA Main Page