Hutton Honors College

Tukufu Zuberi to present at Gender, Race, and Class Colloquium
Department of Sociology, Indiana University
Friday, December 2, 2005, 2-3:30pm
Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center Grand Ball Room

Tukufu Zuberi, Lasry Family Professor of Race Relations and Director of the Center for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, will deliver the lecture, "On Professor W.E.B. Du Bois: The Savage Studies Civilization," on Friday, December 2, 2005, from 2-3:30pm at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center Grand Ball Room. Nobody wants to be the savage. We all want to save the savage. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois wrote at time when most social scientist themselves thought he was a savage. Rather than accept his status as a savage Du Bois offered a critique of civilization. Professor Tukufu Zuberi will provide an exploration of Du Bois's social thought as it evolved over the course of his life as both an academic and public sociologist.

As an internationally-known social scientist, Professor Zuberi has made important contributions in the study of sociology, population studies, and Africana studies. He is a member of the Population Studies Center and the Center for Africana Studies. Professor Zuberi has spearheaded several major research projects including the African Census Analysis Project (ACAP). A collaborative effort between researchers at Penn and scholars from African institutions specializing in demographic research and training, ACAP aims to increase the usefulness and availability of census data to promote a better understanding of African demography.

Professor Zuberi is the author or editor of seven books or edited journal conference volumes, including Demography of South Africa which is the first volume of a series entitled, A General Demography of Africa. This work has been honored by grants and awards from numerous foundations and research organizations, including the Rockefeller Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. As a public sociologist, Professor Zuberi has sought to allow the public to view their everyday lives in the broader social and historical context. He is the co-host of the Public Broadcasting Service's History Detectives, a nationally syndicated series that seeks to uncover the mysteries of America's past, and is currently working on a Public Broadcasting Service documentary on Africa. He has appeared in several documentaries on Africa and African American issues, and on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and FOX, WHYY, MSNBC, and on syndicated programs such as Donahue, and America's Black Forum.

This Colloquium is co-sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Institutional Development and Student Affairs, Hudson-Holland Scholars program, Hutton Honors College, AAADS, African Studies, History, Latino Studies, PIRT, and the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.