Dr. Michael Eric Dyson coming to VSCC today
Chris Morgan
Issue date: 3/1/10 Section: News
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson is giving a lecture today, March 1, in the Wemyss Auditorium in the Caudill Building at 12:15 p.m.
He was scheduled to appear at Vol State Feb. 10, but had to postpone because of an invitation to the White House.
Dyson is the university professor of sociology at Georgetown University, where he teaches theology, English and African American studies.
He is a television pundit, a syndicated radio host (The Michael Eric Dyson Show) and has written 16 books.
"Dr. Dyson is known for his willingness to ask the tough questions, and his no-holds-barred approach to culture and politics," said Nancy Blomgren, English faculty member of the humanities division.
He has addressed figures as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Tupac Shakur in his books, documentaries and television shows.
"He could talk about anything," said Dr. Monique Robinson-Wright, director of student life and diversity initiatives.
"He's not always the favorite within the African American community," she said, "because he can often be very critical of us."
Dyson took the side of Kanye West's remarks on former president George W. Bush, and he rebuked the negative remarks of Bill Cosby on black Americans.
Dyson is also known as "the hip hop intellectual," and in his book, "Know What I Mean? Reflections on Hip Hop," rapper Jay-Z writes in the forward:
"How many folk out there can talk about pimping in terms laid out by Hegel? Or use Kant to explain the way that prison fashion moved from the cellblock to the city block?
Dyson drops the names of philosophers and scholars as easily as he does the names of artists on the latest mixtape moving dance floors in the clubs."
"I'm sure he will set the campus on fire. A lot of people from off campus are coming as well," said Wright.
"And I will either get a lot of hate mail or I'll get a lot of, 'Oh yay! Thank you for bringing him to campus,'" said Wright.
When he is not teaching, hosting his radio show, or working in television, Dyson makes time for campus lectures.
"It is very important for me to deliver my message to students and faculty at this great institution of American society, because it is the ideas and thoughts of these young people that are going to shape society in the future," said Dyson.
"Just as our other speakers have done, Dr. Dyson will help us to see the increasingly diverse world around us in new ways," said Blomgren.
Dyson will be taking questions after his lecture, and will also be signing books.
He was scheduled to appear at Vol State Feb. 10, but had to postpone because of an invitation to the White House.
Dyson is the university professor of sociology at Georgetown University, where he teaches theology, English and African American studies.
He is a television pundit, a syndicated radio host (The Michael Eric Dyson Show) and has written 16 books.
"Dr. Dyson is known for his willingness to ask the tough questions, and his no-holds-barred approach to culture and politics," said Nancy Blomgren, English faculty member of the humanities division.
He has addressed figures as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Tupac Shakur in his books, documentaries and television shows.
"He could talk about anything," said Dr. Monique Robinson-Wright, director of student life and diversity initiatives.
"He's not always the favorite within the African American community," she said, "because he can often be very critical of us."
Dyson took the side of Kanye West's remarks on former president George W. Bush, and he rebuked the negative remarks of Bill Cosby on black Americans.
Dyson is also known as "the hip hop intellectual," and in his book, "Know What I Mean? Reflections on Hip Hop," rapper Jay-Z writes in the forward:
"How many folk out there can talk about pimping in terms laid out by Hegel? Or use Kant to explain the way that prison fashion moved from the cellblock to the city block?
Dyson drops the names of philosophers and scholars as easily as he does the names of artists on the latest mixtape moving dance floors in the clubs."
"I'm sure he will set the campus on fire. A lot of people from off campus are coming as well," said Wright.
"And I will either get a lot of hate mail or I'll get a lot of, 'Oh yay! Thank you for bringing him to campus,'" said Wright.
When he is not teaching, hosting his radio show, or working in television, Dyson makes time for campus lectures.
"It is very important for me to deliver my message to students and faculty at this great institution of American society, because it is the ideas and thoughts of these young people that are going to shape society in the future," said Dyson.
"Just as our other speakers have done, Dr. Dyson will help us to see the increasingly diverse world around us in new ways," said Blomgren.
Dyson will be taking questions after his lecture, and will also be signing books.