Ibram X. Kendi, professor of history and international relations and the founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, will deliver the Krieger Lecture in American Political Culture, April 15 in Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium, Klarman Hall. The event, free and open to the public, will begin at 4:45 p.m.

Kendi’s 2016 book, “Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America,” uses the life stories of five major American intellectuals to offer a window into the contentious debates between racists and anti-racists.

“Professor Kendi’s work is innovatively conceived, rigorously researched and forcefully presented,” said Derek Chang, associate professor of history. “‘Stamped from the Beginning’ – like his essays in The Atlantic, The New York Times, the Washington Post and other publications – is accessible, nuanced and unsparing in its analysis. 

“We’re so fortunate to have Professor Kendi deliver this year’s Krieger lecture,” Chang said. “His deep understanding of and insights about racism and anti-racism have never been more timely or more important.”

Kendi was only 34 when “Stamped From the Beginning” won the 2016 National Book Award for Nonfiction, making him the youngest winner of the award. He is also an ideas columnist at The Atlantic; his third book, “How to Be an Antiracist,” will be published in August.

Kendi has been a visiting professor at Brown University, a 2013 National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow and a postdoctoral fellow at the Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis. In 2011, Kendi had a residency at the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress as the American Historical Association’s 2010-2011 J. Franklin Jameson Fellow in American History.

The Krieger lecture was endowed by Sanford ’65 and Carol Krieger in 2000 and is sponsored by the American Studies Program in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Yvette L Ndlovu is a communications assistant for the College of Arts and Sciences.