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Melissa Harris-Perry

Melissa Harris-Perry

Presidential Endowed Professor in Politics and International Affairs at Wake Forest University, Executive Director of the Pro Humanitate Institute, & Former MSNBC Host

Melissa Harris-Perry is the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair at Wake Forest University. There she is the Executive Director of the Pro Humanitate Institute and founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Center. Melissa is Editor-in-Large at ELLE.com. She hosted the television show “Melissa Harris-Perry” from 2012-2016 on weekend mornings on MSNBC. She is the author of the award-winning Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought, and Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America. Harris-Perry received her B.A. degree in English from Wake Forest University and her Ph.D. degree in ...

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Bio

Full Bio

Melissa Harris-Perry is the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair at Wake Forest University. There she is the Executive Director of the Pro Humanitate Institute and founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Center.

Melissa is Editor-in-Large at ELLE.com. She hosted the television show “Melissa Harris-Perry” from 2012-2016 on weekend mornings on MSNBC.

She is the author of the award-winning Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought, and Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America.

Harris-Perry received her B.A. degree in English from Wake Forest University and her Ph.D. degree in political science from Duke University. She also studied theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Harris-Perry previously served on the faculty of the University of Chicago, Princeton University, and Tulane University.

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Topics

Topics

Black Lives Matter
How has the meaning of racial justice transformed over the course of the 20th and early 21st century in America? What political changes, forms of resistance and societal shifts have contributed to and produced these variations? In polarizing political times, how can we more closely approximate a more racially just world? This course is an effort to understand the contemporary web of social, political, economic, and direct actions operating under the broad theme of Black Lives Matter. Drawing on broad, interdisciplinary approaches, this class will contextualize the long history of racial justice, non-violent, and anti-racist political movements within academic historical, social scientific, and legal frameworks. The course also seeks to develop the critical questioning, writing, and engagement skills of students.

Wake the Vote
Wake the Vote is a deep immersion program of citizenship education for a highly selective group of Wake Forest University undergraduate students. Building on the opportunity of the 2016 election year, Wake the Vote offers students the opportunity to form a diverse cohort working together over the course of an entire calendar year to experience American democracy from the front lines through travel, participatory action, employment, course work, program planning, and personal reflection.

Videos

Videos

Melissa Harris-Perry Discusses Leaving MSNBC on 'The View'
Melissa Harris-Perry on Being Black in America Today

Books

Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America
Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America
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Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought
Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought
Read More →

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