A Conversation about Truth, History and the 1619 Project
 

For her final Dean’s Lecture Series as dean of UMD’s College of Arts and Humanities, Bonnie Thornton Dill will be in conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, the creator of the groundbreaking 1619 Project, published by The New York Times Magazine. An exploration of the legacy of slavery starting with the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to Virginia in 1619, the project reframes U.S. history by “placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.” Thornton Dill and Hannah-Jones will discuss the hard but essential work of engaging the public to reflect on history—and the power of such efforts to illuminate the present. Hannah-Jones has spent her career investigating racial inequality and injustice. In 2020 she was inducted into the Society of American Historians, and in 2021 she was named a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She also serves as the inaugural Knight Chair in Race and Journalism at Howard University, where she is founding the Center for Journalism and Democracy. The discussion will be followed by a Q&A.

The event is free and open to students, staff, faculty and the community with limited availability.