Melissa Harris-Lacewell

Melissa Harris-Lacewell is Associate Professor of Politics and African American Studies at Princeton University.  She is the author of the award-winning book, Barbershops, Bibles and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought (Princeton 2004). And she is currently at work on a new book: For Colored Girls Who've Considered Politics When Being Strong Wasn't Enough. Her academic research is inspired by a desire to investigate the challenges facing contemporary black Americans and to better understand the multiple, creative ways that African Americans respond to these challenges.

Her academic research has been published in scholarly journals and edited volumes and her interests include the study of African American political thought, black religious ideas and practice, and social and clinical psychology. Professor Harris-Lacewell's creative and dynamic teaching is also motivated by the practical political and racial issues of our time. For example, her course entitled Disaster, Race and American Politics explored the multiple political meanings of Hurricane Katrina.

Professor Harris-Lacewell has taught students from grade school to graduate school and has been recognized for her commitment to the classroom as a site of democratic deliberation on race. In a 2007 article of the Princeton Weekly Bulletin Professor Harris-Lacewell's colleagues recognized her contributions to the academy. "She has to be one of the most talented intellectuals of her generation," said Cornel West, the Class of 1943 University Professor of Religion. "She brings sophisticated quantitative skills, a sense of history and a synthetic imagination. That's rare among social scientists, and that's why I'm so thoroughly excited and inspired that she's here." "What I like best is that she combines all this energy and cleverness with political passion, an eye for the big picture and a flair for communicating ideas," said Larry Bartels, the Donald E. Stokes Professor in Public and International Affairs.

Professor Harris-Lacewell's writings have been published in newspapers throughout the country. She has provided expert commentary on U.S. elections, racial issues, religious questions and gender issues for many television, radio and print sources both in the United States and around the world. She travels extensively and works on behalf of local and national efforts for justice. Professor Harris-Lacewell received her B.A. in English from Wake Forest University, her Ph.D. in political science from Duke University and an honorary doctorate from Meadville Lombard Theological School. She is currently a student at Union Theological Seminary in New York.

Professor Harris-Lacewell is a dynamic public speaker who often addresses youth groups, colleges, churches and other organizations. Visit Melissa's web log.