Melissa Harris-Perry, h​​​​​ost of The Takeaway and the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair at Wake Forest University, will deliver University of Puget Sound’s fall 2022 Susan Resneck Pierce Lecture in Public Affairs and the Arts, titled "What Just Happened? And What Will Happen Next? Examining American Democracy in an Uncertain Moment."

For nearly two decades, Harris-Perry has contributed to American public life through her distinct combination of scholarly analysis and grounded wisdom applied to analysis of gender, politics, power and race. Her writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Glamour, Harper's Bazaar and many other print and digital venues. She was among the initial cohort of writers for TheRoot.com and authored highly regarded columns for Essence and The Nation. 

She is the 2016 Hillman Prize awardee for broadcast journalism and 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.

Professor Harris-Perry received her B.A. in English from Wake Forest University and her Ph.D. in political science from Duke University.

The Pierce Lectures are free to current students, staff and faculty, but tickets are required and available at the Information Desk in Wheelock Student Center or online. A reception and book signing will be available Tuesday morning, November 15, in Wheelock Student Center.

Established in 2002 in honor of President Emerita Susan Resneck Pierce, this lecture series brings to campus public intellectuals, writers, and artists of high recognition in public affairs and the arts.