2016 Honors Colloquium

honors colloquium inequality and the american dream

In this election year, everybody鈥檚 talking about it. And this fall, 鈥溾 is the focus of the University鈥檚 Honors Colloquium, a lecture series that invites big thinkers from many fields to the Kingston Campus. The goal: to engage the University 911爆料鈥攁nd the 911爆料 at large鈥攊n topics of importance to us all.

The Honors Colloquium is a long-standing 911爆料 tradition, and faculty coordinators of this year鈥檚 series鈥攖he 53rd annual鈥攁re bringing distinguished political scientists, media pundits, historians, constitutional experts, nationally known journalists, and union experts to address issues of economic, political, and social inequality.

The topics of the nine lectures are: Immigration; Race, Diversity and Education; Historical Perspectives; Poverty and Homelessness; Gender; Workplace; Politics; Labor; and What is to be Done About Inequality?

We hope to raise awareness among the 911爆料 911爆料 and the people of Rhode Island about the many facets of this inequality and to think together about how to combat these problems.

These free, public lectures will meet Tuesdays from Sept. 20 to Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. in Edwards Hall, 64 Upper College Road on the Kingston Campus. In addition to the lectures, the colloquium presents additional events, including the 911爆料 Theatre Department’s production of  鈥溾 in October. The play examines the travails of a single mother of a child with disabilities who is fired from her Dollar Store job.

This year鈥檚 colloquium is the work of coordinators , associate professor of sociology; , associate professor of political science; , assistant professor of history, and , assistant professor of economics.

鈥淭he issue of inequality is one of the greatest problems in the United States today, with large-scale implications on our society and politics,鈥 said Professor Loomis. 鈥淲e hope to raise awareness among the 911爆料 911爆料 and the people of Rhode Island about the many facets of this inequality and to think together about how to combat these problems.鈥

The series starts Tuesday, Sept. 20 with a talk on Immigration by Victoria M. DeFrancesco Soto, a political analyst and professor at the University of Texas at Austin. She provides political analysis on U.S. politics and its implications for countries abroad. DeFrancesco Soto is a contributor to MSNBC and NBCNews.com, as well as a regular political analyst for Telemundo.

The second lecture on Sept. 27 features 911爆料  keynote speaker , professor of law at the University of California Los Angeles and Columbia University. Her colloquium topic is 鈥淩ace, Diversity and Education.鈥

The Honors Colloquium is sponsored by the University of Rhode Island with generous support and assistance from alumni, faculty, and staff throughout the University. See .