Author, professor Cornel West to speak April 12 at Purdue

April 2, 2013

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Cornel West, author, professor and activist, will speak on April 12 at Purdue University.

West's talk, titled "Does Race Still Matter? And Why?" is at 4 p.m. in Elliott Hall of Music and is free and open to the public.

The Class of 1943 University Professor at Princeton University, West also has taught at Union Theological Seminary, Yale, Harvard and the University of Paris.

He has written 20 books, including the New York Times bestseller "Democracy Matters," "Race Matters" and his memoir, "Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud."

West and Tavis Smiley co-host the Public Radio International show "Smiley & West," and the pair recently co-authored a book titled "The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto." West has appeared on Smiley's "The Tavis Smiley Show" on PBS as well as the "Colbert Report," CNN and C-SPAN. He also has appeared in "The Matrix" science-fiction movie series.

The talk is sponsored by the Office of the Provost as well as the Division of Diversity and Inclusion, the College of Liberal Arts, the Brian Lamb School of Communication, the Black Graduate Association, and Project Impact.

Writer: Greg McClure, 765-496-9711, gmcclure@purdue.edu

Source: Beverly Davenport Sypher, vice provost for faculty affairs, 765-494-9709, bdsypher@purdue.edu