National experts to speak at Michigan Sociological Association meeting

Race and ethnicity, social class and gender are just a few of the topics that will be discussed at the 2011 Michigan Sociological Association Annual Meeting hosted by Grand Valley State University at the Eberhard Center in Grand Rapids. This year’s conference theme is “Navigating Intersectionality.”

Keynote speakers include Nikol Alexander-Floyd, associate professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Rutgers University, whose talk,
“Melodrama and Post-Civil Rights, Post-Feminist Ideology in Grey’s Anatomy, Crash, and the 2008 Obama Presidential Campaign,” will be Friday, October 28 at 7 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, professor of sociology at Duke University, will give the luncheon address “Racism without Racists” on Saturday, October 29. Registration is required for this and all Saturday events.

Michigan Sociological Association Meeting
October 28 and 29
Eberhard Center
301 W. Fulton, Grand Rapids
www.gvsu.edu/msr/msaconference

Alexander-Floyd is a feminist theorist whose work and teaching integrate the study of politics, law, women’s studies and Black studies. Her research explores narrative analysis, interpretive methodology, the gender politics of contemporary Black nationalism, critical race feminism, and popular culture. Her work has appeared in Frontiers, The International Journal of Africana Studies, The National Political Science Review and Politics & Gender.

Bonilla-Silva’s research areas include racial stratification, social theory, critical race methods and political sociology. His latest project is titled “We are All Americans! The Latin Americanization of Race Relations in the USA,” and explores the changing dynamics of racial stratification in the U.S. His most recent book is “The State of White Supremacy: Racism, Governance, and the USA.” His past books include “White Logic, White Methods: Race, Epistemology, and the Social Sciences,” and “Racism Without Racists.”

Details on registration and cost, along with the complete conference program are online at www.gvsu.edu/msr/msaconference. For more information contact Rachel Campbell, conference co-chair, at (616) 331-8977.