UMass Amherst Libraries Host 30th Annual W. E. B. Du Bois Lecture
The UMass Amherst Libraries will host the 30th annual W. E. B. Du Bois Lecture on Friday, October 31, 2025, at 5 p.m. in Old Chapel. The lecture, entitled “Whoopty Doo: W. E. B. Du Bois on Do It Anyways,” will be given by Dr. Karida L. Brown, Professor of Sociology at Emory University, and will explore W. E. B. Du Bois’ logic of praxis around his public sociology to reflect on the imperative of the public intellectual at the dawn of American fascism.
Attendance at the lecture and reception is free but space is limited. Registration is required to attend; this form will close when event capacity is reached.
Dr. Brown is a sociologist, professor, oral historian, and public intellectual whose research centers on the fullness of Black life. She is a proud graduate of Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Brown University. Her previous roles include Professor of Sociology at UCLA, the inaugural Director of Racial Equity & Action at the Los Angeles Lakers, and the inaugural Diane Nash Descendants of Emancipation Chair at Fisk University. She currently serves as a Professor of Sociology at Emory University. Dr. Brown is a Fulbright Scholar, and her international research has been supported by national foundations such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Hellman Fellows Fund. Brown also served on the board of the Obama Presidency Oral History Project. Dr. Brown is the author of several books, including The Sociology of W. E. B. Du Bois and, most recently, The New Brownies’ Book: A Love Letter to Black Families, which recently won the 55th NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Nonfiction Literary Work, and The Battle for the Black Mind by Legacy Lit. Dr. Brown resides in Atlanta, GA, with her husband, artist Charly Palmer, and their two pugs Blu and Brownie.
As the 30th Du Bois Lecture, this evening merits special consideration, taking its place in this series of talks by some of the foremost Du Bois scholars, including David Levering Lewis, Aldon Morris, Saida Grundy, and, the inaugural lecturer, Herbert Aptheker. This lecture series provides a yearly opportunity for UMass to celebrate the legacy of a historic figure whose legacy we are the proud custodians of and whose spirit informs our approach to our intellectual endeavors as well as our institutional values.
“We are deeply honored to have a scholar of the caliber of Professor Brown speaking at this historic lecture,” says Dr. Whitney Battle-Baptiste, Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Center. “As one of the foremost voices in the field of sociology, and a theorist of race firmly in the DuBoisian tradition, we can think of no better person to give the 30th Annual W. E. B. Du Bois Lecture.”