Michael Eric Dyson, named one of the 100 most influential black Americans, will discuss his book on Hurricane Katrina, “Come Hell or High Water” as part of WVU’s David C. Hardesty, Jr. Festival of Ideas lecture series.

The address will take place on Thursday, Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mountainlair.

Currently a professor of sociology at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Dyson has written 16 books.

He has appeared on local and national television and radio programs with his New York Times best seller “Is Bill Crosby Right?”

He is also known for writing “Holler if You Hear Me,” “I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr.” and “Race Rules: Navigating the Color Line.”

His talk is co-sponsored by WVU’s Center for Black Culture and Research. It is free and open to the public. A reception and book signing will follow the event.

The David C. Hardesty, Jr. Festival of Ideas is named after WVU’s former president who created the lecture series. Each year, the festival brings key figures from the fields of sports, politics, business, entertainment, research, scholarship and culture to the state.

The series is supported in part by the David C. Hardesty, Jr. Festival of Ideas Endowment.

The next speaker in the series will be Sheril Kirshenbaum, science writer and research associate at the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Texas, Austin. She will speak on April 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mountainlair.

For more information on the 2010-11 Festival of Ideas, visit http://festivalofideas.wvu.edu/.

-WVU-

cd/02/17/11

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