The Common Reading Program and the School of Journalism and Communication have teamed up for a year of conversation around the book Between the World and Me with author Ta-Nehisi Coates presenting the SOJC's 2017 Ruhl Lecture on February 3.
The 2016-17 Common Reading for University of Oregon first-year students is Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, which won a National Book Award for nonfiction. He published his first book, a memoir, The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood, in 2008. He is also the author of Marvel Comics’ Black Panther series, the first issue of which was released in April 2016.
Common Reading at the University of Oregon began in 2009 as an initiative of the Clark Honors College. In 2014, it expanded to include all first-year students. Common Reading is coordinated by the Division of Undergraduate Studies, with support from the Office of the President, the Division of Student Life, and the Division of Equity and Inclusion.
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Ta-Nehisi Coates will discuss the systemic racism that is intertwined with the development of this nation at the annual Ruhl Lecture at the School of Journalism and Communication. He will focus on racist policies that continue to be problematic despite the supposed postracial society we live in today. Other related topics include the numerous killings of unarmed black people that has become far too familiar in recent years. This timely discussion will not provide easy answers or give false hope. Coates will engage audiences with what it means to talk realistically about race today.
Ta-Nehisi Coates is one of the most important voices on race in America. His works in The Atlantic, the Village Voice, New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post, and others have generated media attention from numerous print, broadcast, and online news outlets. Below is collection of some of Coates’ stories and interviews.