AMHERST — Former Florida governor and presidential candidate Jeb Bush, NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks and author and past MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry are among those who will give talks at Amherst College during the spring semester.
President Carolyn “Biddy” Martin announced the lineup of speakers on Thursday in a letter to students, faculty and staff.
“This roster of creative, curious and influential voices is sure to enrich the intellectual life of our campus throughout the semester,” Martin wrote.
Bush, Florida’s governor from 1999 through 2007, will be at Johnson Chapel Jan. 31, at 7:30 p.m. The son and brother of presidents, Bush currently serves as the chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, a national foundation focused on education reform.
His talk is free, but tickets will be required and priority seating will be given to those affiliated with the college.
Brooks, who leads the organization that advocates for civil rights, fights against police brutality and conducts voter mobilization campaigns, will be at Johnson Chapel March 24 at 8 p.m. His talk is free and open to the public.
Harris-Perry, a writer, professor and political commentator with expertise in race, gender and American politics, is scheduled to be at Stirn Auditorium March 27 at 8 p.m. Her talk is free and open to the public.
The first speaker of the semester will be Masha Gessen, a Russian-American journalist, author and activist, who speaks at the Cole Assembly Room at Converse Hall Thursday at 8 p.m.
Others talking later in the semester will be Kellie Jones, associate professor in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University, at Cole Assembly Room, Feb. 23, at 8 p.m., and National Review editor and political commentator Rich Lowry at Stirn Auditorium at March 8 at 8 p.m.
In addition, the college will hold its second annual Litfest between March 2-4, including readings and conversations with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, award-winning novelist Zadie Smith and 2016 National Book Award Fiction Finalists Chris Bachelder and Jacqueline Woodson
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
