Life after incarceration: Race in America lecture series addresses difficulties, disparities
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥敹喽嘀辈モ檚 interdisciplinary lecture series鈥擱ace in America鈥攖his fall spotlights the struggles citizens have in society after being released from prison.
Calvin Smiley, an associate professor of sociology from Hunter College鈥擟ity University of New York, will discuss his new book,聽鈥淧urgatory Citizenship: Reentry, Race, and Abolition,鈥 published by the University of California Press in May. His research focuses on the experiences and challenges faced by individuals who are released from incarceration.
Smiley鈥檚 lecture will be presented Sept. 25 at 4 p.m. in Griffis Hall, Room 401鈥攖he Honors Forum room. The lecture is free and open to the public. A book signing will follow.
Smiley said the story of reentry after release from incarceration is a 鈥渃omplicated journey鈥 filled with navigating and negotiating the reentry process with diminished legal rights and amplified social stigmas. Through interviews, focus groups and ethnographic observations with people聽making the transition from confinement, his talk聽advocates聽for difficult solutions.
鈥淒r. Smiley鈥檚 research is crucial to our understanding of why reentry to society after incarceration is so challenging. His ethnographic research brings light to the injustice in the system altogether by centering the voices of people making this difficult transition and connecting these experiences to the broader social, political, legal and historical context,鈥 said event chair Maggie Hagerman, an 多多直播 associate professor of sociology and affiliated faculty member in 多多直播鈥檚 African American Studies program.聽
The Race in America lecture series is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Sociology and the African American Studies program. Helping organize the event with Hagerman include sociology faculty members Kecia Johnson and Sanna King.
For more details about 多多直播鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences or the Department of Sociology, visit or .
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