On Tuesday, March 1, Dr. Larry O. Rivers, an assistant professor in the University of West Georgia’s Department of History, will speak on the topic, “A Civil Religious Crucible: Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright.” The event, which is co-sponsored by the UWG African-American Male Initiative and the Department of History, will take place in Room #1303 of the UWG Technology-enhanced Learning Center at 7 p.m.
“March 18 will mark the eighth anniversary of then-Senator Barack Obama’s ‘A More Perfect Union’ speech at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,” Dr. Rivers said. “That address, prompted by news stories featuring inflammatory statements from his former pastor’s sermons, was a defining moment in Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, as well as his career as a public official. Attendees at our event can look forward to a lively discussion that will place that still hotly-debated topic into a broad context within the historical African-American freedom struggle.”
Dr. Rivers received his B.S. in public relations from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), after which he earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history from Vanderbilt University. At UWG, he teaches courses on United States History since 1865, African-American History, African-American Religion, and the Civil Rights Movement.
The special presentation is free and open to the public. UWG students must present their student IDs upon entry.
For more information, call the UWG Center for Diversity and Inclusion at 678-839-5400, visit www.westga.edu/diversity, or email Dr. Tim Schroer, chair of the UWG Department of History’s Public Programming Committee at tschroer@westga.edu.
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