Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, Associate Professor of Black Popular Culture in the Program in African and African American Studies at Duke University and a two-time Fredonia graduate, will be speaking on Friday, September 23 at 3:00 pm at SUNY Fredonia. His talk is entitled "What the Hell Is a Male Feminist? Rethinking Masculinity in a Post-Feminist World," and it will relate closely to his most recent book, New Black Man: Rethinking Black Masculinity (2005). The talk will take place in Room 105 of Fenton Hall (near the café) and will be immediately followed by a brief question-and-answer session and a book-signing and reception.
 
A prominent scholar and NPR commentator, Neal is the author of three other books, What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture (1998), Soul Babies: Black Popular Culture and the Post-Soul Aesthetic (2002), and Songs in the Keys of Black Life: A Rhythm and Blues Nation (2003). He is also the co-editor (with Murray Forman) of That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader (2004). His essays have been anthologized in more than half-a-dozen books, including the 2004 edition of the acclaimed series Da Capo Best Music Writing, edited by Mickey Hart. Neal is also a regular contributor to NPR’s News and Notes with Ed Gordon, Popmatters.com and SeeingBlack.com. He blogs at newblackman.blogspot.com.
 
Born and raised in the Bronx, NY, Neal is a two-time graduate of SUNY Fredonia, earning a BA (1987) and a MA (1993), both in English. He was a columnist for The Leader and the host of Soul Expressions on WCVF from 1993-1996. Neal went on to earn his Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Buffalo in 1996, where he worked with renowned black feminist author Masani Alexis De Veaux. When asked about his time at SUNY-Fredonia he responds, "When I think of SUNY-Fredonia, I think of my introduction to the world of ideas—a world that came alive in the classrooms of then faculty members like Karen Mills-Courts, Ronald Ambrosetti and Jon Kraus. I often think back lovingly of the days that I spent in Fenton Hall as an English major. Fredonia changed my life because it was there that I learned that ideas mattered and that they could indeed help change the world."
 
For more information regarding this event, please contact Natalie Gerber at (716) 673-3851.
 
This event, which is free and open to the public, is generously supported by SUNY Fredonia’s Department of English and the Educational Development Program.