Cornel West to join Earlham College for Black History Month

Renowned philosopher, author and political activist Cornel West will join Earlham College during Black History Month for a virtual lecture and conversation about the late novelist Toni Morrison. The first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize, Morrison is noted for her writing about Black identity and experience.

West’s lecture, “The Sublime Legacy of Toni Morrison,” begins at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 4, via Zoom. James Logan, Earlham’s interim academic dean, professor of religion and director of the African and African American Studies Program, will moderate a question-and-answer session after West’s lecture.

“For Black History Month Earlham is privileged have one of the country’s most preeminent public intellectuals and advocates of love in action, Cornel West, share with us ‘The Sublime Legacy of Toni Morrison,’” Logan said. “Indeed, we are beyond exited to remember and celebrate with West the literary genius, audacious courage, and spectacular cultural wit of the great Toni Morrison.”

The event is supported by Earlham’s Artist and Lecture Series and is among the signature activities planned in celebration of the College’s 175^th anniversary. Other events include Winterfest on Friday, Feb. 11, and the October inauguration of President Anne Houtman, which coincides with Homecoming and Reunion Weekend.

The author of best-selling books Race Matters and Democracy Matters, West is a frequent commentator on politics and social issues at CNN, C-Span and Democracy Now! He is the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice at Union Theological Seminary and holds the title of Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He has also taught at Yale, Harvard, and the University of Paris.