Speaker Symposium Lecture Series
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, March 31, 2016
STEPHENVILLE, Texas—World-renowned author and sociologist Dr. Michael Kimmel, a leading expert on men and masculinities, will give a keynote lecture on the Tarleton State University campus, Wednesday, April 6, as part of the continuing Speaker Symposium Series.
Kimmel’s free lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. inside the Fain Auditorium, located in the Dr. Lamar Johanson Science Building. The Tarleton community and the public are invited.
The lecture, “Mars, Venus or Planet Earth? Women and Men on Campus in a New Millenium,” is sure to be an engaging and entertaining keynote as Kimmel strips away the myths of men and women being vastly different. Surveying the landscape of current controversies about gender, Kimmel will discuss how men and women are transforming college campuses and our culture—and why gender equality is actually a good thing for men.
“I’ve used Dr. Kimmel’s textbooks for years and my students just love him,” said Dr. Leslie Stanley-Stevens, professor of sociology at Tarleton. “He’s one of those people who can make complex ideas come to life.”
Kimmel, the SUNY Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at Stony Brook University, has spent most of his career looking critically at masculinity, the role men play in the feminist movement and how men can benefit from that movement. His scholarship and activism has helped to drive conversations on gender equality for more than two decades.
An advocate of engaging men to support gender equality, Kimmel has lectured at more than 300 colleges, universities and high schools, and appeared on TED Talk in May 2015. He has delivered the International Women’s Day annual lecture at the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of Europe, and has worked with the Ministers for Gender Equality of Norway, Denmark and Sweden in developing programs for boys and men.
His most recent publication, The Guy’s Guide to Feminism, co-authored with Michael Kaufman, is a humorous and accessible exploration of the feminist movement. It highlights how feminist movements have collectively improved the lives of girls and women and how boys and men benefit from these gains.
Among his many books are Manhood in America, Angry White Men, The Politics of Manhood, The Gendered Society and the best seller Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men. He has also co-edited The Encyclopedia on Men and Masculinities and The Handbook of Studies on Men and Masculinities.
Kimmel also wrote the documentary history, Against the Tide: Pro-Feminist Men in the United States, 1776-1990, which chronicles men’s support of women’s equality since the founding of the country. With funding from the MacArthur Foundation, he founded the Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities at Stony Brook in 2013, and serves as the spokesperson of the National Organization for Men Against Sexism.
Sponsors for the lecture are Tarleton’s Sociology Program, Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention Programs, the university’s colleges of Liberal & Fine Arts, Business Administration, Education, Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, Science & Technology, and the Tarleton Speaker Symposium Committee. The committee seeks to bring innovative and enlightening speakers to campus, providing the community with a platform to foster dialogue, cultivate enriching ideas and continue an appreciation of learning as an active and lifelong process.
Tarleton, a member of The Texas A&M University System, provides a student-focused, value-driven educational experience marked by academic innovation and exemplary service, and dedicated to transforming students into tomorrow’s professional leaders. With campuses in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Midlothian and online, Tarleton engages with its communities to provide real-world learning experiences and to address societal needs while maintaining its core values of integrity, leadership, tradition, civility, excellence and service.
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Contact: Dr. Leslie Stanley-Stevens – Professor of Sociology
254-968-9620
[email protected]
