Georgia Educator, Researcher to Discuss ‘From DuBois to Newton’

STARKVILLE, Miss. (Press Release) — Mississippi State’s philosophy and religion department and the university’s African American Studies program are announcing the first guest for a spring semester speaker series.

Anthony S. Neal of Paine College in Augusta, Georgia, will lead a Friday [Jan. 30] program titled “From DuBois to Newton.”

Free to all, his address begins at 1:30 p.m. in 185 McCain Hall.

Neal is an assistant professor of philosophy and his presentation will explore the philosophical framework that sustained the modern era of the African American freedom struggle, specifically from 1896 to 1975. The event is helping launch the university’s February observance of Black History Month.

Professor John Bickle, philosophy and religion department head, said Neal’s visit should provide “an excellent opportunity for faculty, students and others to hear from a philosopher about the history of the treatment of issues about race in academia.” The topics are growing in interest among philosophers in the Southern region, he added.

While many may have considered some of the issues from their own academic backgrounds, “I think it will be interesting to see them presented and discussed critically from a philosophical perspective,” Bickle said.

Neal is a religion and philosophy graduate of Atlanta’s Morehouse College who also holds a master’s degree in divinity from Mercer University in Macon and a doctorate in humanities/Africana philosophy and religion from Clark Atlanta University.

He is the author of “Imposing Morality: Cultural Perspectives on Truth, Apologies, and Forgiveness in the U.S.A,” a chapter in the 2014 Praeger Press book titled “Crimes Against Humanity in the Land of the Free: Can a Truth and Reconciliation Process Heal Racial Conflict in America?” More biographical information may be found via www.paine.edu/directory.

Neal’s campus visit this week will be his second in the recent months. In October, he participated in “Remembering Freedom Summer: Building a Better Future,” a conference sponsored by MSU African American Studies.

For additional information on Neal’s Friday address, contact Bickle at 662-325-2382 or jbickle@philrel.msstate.edu.

Learn more about the philosophy and religion department at www.philosophyandreligion.msstate.edu; African American Studies Program at www.aas.msstate.edu.

Follow Mississippi’s flagship research university online at www.msstate.edu.

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