Melissa Harris-Perry, Associate Professor of Politics and African American Studies at Princeton University and author of the award-winning book Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought (2004), will give a public talk presented by the UM Institute for Research on Women and Gender and Women’s Studies Department.

Harris-Perry’s academic research is inspired by a desire to investigate the challenges facing contemporary black Americans and to better understand the multiple, creative ways that African Americans respond to these challenges. Her work is published in scholarly journals and edited volumes and her interests include the study of African American political thought, black religious ideas and practice, and social and clinical psychology.

The Motorola Lecture, established in 2001 with support from the Motorola Foundation, aims to expose UM students to journalists who address important issues concerning women and gender and to engage them in discussion about ways the media can reframe the public understanding of complex issues.