On October 4 from 3:00 - 4:30 PM, Mason will host Dr. Chris Myers Asch in the Center for the Arts Lobby as the 2011 Moments of Truth Speaker. Dr. Asch is a history professor at the University of District of Columbia and author of The Senator and the Sharecropper, a compelling book about the way the economics of the cotton industry and the politics of Senator James O. Eastland influenced the progress of the civil rights movement in Mississippi. Dr. Asch weaves the story of Senator Eastland with the life of Fannie Lou Hamer, the daughter of a sharecropper and civil rights activist.

The title for the lecture is Unfinished Work: Mississippi, D.C., and the Struggle to Live Up to American Ideals. According to the speaker, “The title comes from Lincoln’s line at the end of his second Inaugural Address, where he talks about how we must ‘strive on to finish the work we are in.’” He plans to talk about his time in Mississippi with Teach for America, as well as his experience growing up in DC public schools, his efforts to start the Public Service Academy, and his book. 

There will be a book signing and reception following the free lecture. This event is sponsored by the CHSS Interdisciplinary Curriculum Collaborative. For more information about the Moments of Truth Lecture, contact the Bachelor of Individualized Study (BIS) office at [log in to unmask] or 3-4556.