University Forum’s 2022-23 Series Opens Sept. 13 with Presentation by Co-Creator of Ms. Marvel

Fri, 08/19/2022 - 02:00pm | By: David Tisdale

University Forum at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) continues a tradition of enthralling its audiences with presentations by some of the world’s most interesting and accomplished creators and thought leaders when it brings six of those to Hattiesburg for 2022-23.

The USM fall University Forum lineup begins with American writer G. Willow Wilson, best known for co-creating Kamala Khan of Ms. Marvel, the first Muslim character to headline her own Marvel comic book. Wilson’s presentation, “Mass Culture and Religious Diversity” is set for Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 6:30 p.m. inn Bennett Auditorium on the Hattiesburg campus and will also be live-streamed. A book signing will follow the lecture.

Wilson’s reimagining of Ms. Marvel debuted in 2014 and was a hit; this summer, Disney+ launched a critically acclaimed television series based on the comic. Wilson’s literary career took off in 2010 with the publication of Butterfly Mosque, an account of her conversion to Islam, which the Seattle Times named best non-fiction book of 2010. She followed that with publication of two award-winning novels, The Bird King, named Amazon’s Best Book of the Month, and Alif the Unseen, winner of a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel; additionally, she has collaborated on numerous graphic novels and comic series.

“The 2022-23 University Forum features six speakers who defy categorization but continue Forum’s mission of presenting speakers who will challenge you to think differently about your world,” said Dr. Andrew Haley, director of University Forum and professor of history. “This year’s speakers include scientists and novelists who philosophize and philosophers and cultural commentators who write novels. 

“G. Willow Wilson’s novels and comic books are finding new homes for Muslim characters in mass culture. We round out the fall lineup with Dr. Anthony Appiah, a renowned philosopher who also pens the “Ethicist” column in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, and Dr. Frances Lee, a USM graduate and highly respected political scientist who joins us in November in the wake of this year’s midterm Congressional elections. And that is just the start of this year’s blockbuster line up of speakers.”

*Dr. Appiah is a professor of philosophy at New York University, a National Humanities Medal recipient, New York Times Sunday Magazine columnist and author of Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers and The Lies That Bind. His University Forum presentation, “Honor, Morality, and Revolution” will be held Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 6:30 p.m. in Bennett Auditorium.

Dr. Lee, a 1991 USM alumna and professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton University, will present “Congressional Policymaking in a Fiercely Competitive Era.” She is a nationally recognized expert on U.S. Congressional politics and is author of Insecure Majorities: Congress and the Perpetual Campaign and Beyond Ideology: Politics, Principles and Partisanship in the U.S. Senate. Her presentation is set for Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 6:30 p.m. in the Thad Cochran Center Ballroom on the USM Hattiesburg campus. 

Spring 2023 speakers include internationally recognized data expert Dr. Talithia Williams, New York Times bestselling author and noted feminist Roxane Gay, and astrophysicist and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) faculty member Dr. Alan Lightman.  

University Forum is presented by the USM Honors College, often in conjunction with the support of other entities. To keep up with University Forum, on Facebook visit the University Forum Facebook page; on Instagram at @southernmissforum; visit the University Forum website at usm.edu/forum; or email forumFREEMississippi. Visit the University Forum Speaker Schedule web page to sign up for an email reminder or to access the link to attend online during the night of the event.