Guest speakers visit Richmond to share their insight on a range of topics
University News
Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin was the featured speaker at the 37th annual Weinstein-Rosenthal Forum on Faith, Ethics, and Global Society. Goodwin has spent more than five decades studying presidents and won a Pulitzer Prize for History for her book on Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.
In conversation with UR President Emeritus and humanities professor Edward Ayers, Goodwin reflected on previous U.S. presidents, noting that “history gives us perspective,” and explained current events in the context of her scholarship.
She was among many guest speakers during the fall 2024 semester who shared their personal journeys and professional expertise with the campus and the greater community. Many also spent time interacting with students in classrooms and curated gatherings.
Although Lisa McKnight didn’t wear pink when she addressed a C-Suite audience at the Robins School of Business this semester, a few people in the audience did. McKnight understands well the obsession with pink as she is Mattel’s executive vice president and chief brand officer. She was the person who led the charge in defining Barbie’s global social mission with the launch of the Barbie Dream Gap Project, which, since its creation in 2018, has positively impacted more than 25 million girls by working globally to challenge gender stereotypes.
McKnight told the audience about her rise over a 25-year career at Mattel, and also shared behind-the-scenes stories of the high-grossing Barbie movie.
The Jepson Leadership Forum invited several scholars and experts to discuss how division and polarization affect American democracy. One of the speakers, author Eric Klinenberg, Helen Gould Shepard Professor in Social Science and director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University, discussed "How 2020 Shaped 2024."
Drawing on his new book, 2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed, Klinenberg explored societal issues during the COVID-19 pandemic that still impact Americans.
Journalist Damaso Reyes, executive and investigative editor for the New York Amsterdam News, started the media outlet’s investigative unit, the first at an African American newspaper. While on campus, he met with students from several disciplines, including journalism, Africana Studies, and American Studies, to discuss the Black press' role in informing American news media's coverage of civil and human rights.
Grammy Award-winning rapper Killer Mike spoke to a sold-out crowd as part of a panel discussion focusing on the future of free expression. Liberal arts professor Erik Nielson, an expert on the use of rap lyrics in court, organized the event. The panel discussion, moderated by Nielson and journalist Bonnie Newman Davis, included author Mike Curato, American Civil Liberties Union attorney Emerson Sykes, and George Washington University law professor Mary Anne Franks.
