Professor To Give Presentation at A&M-Texarkana

Dr. Kevin Ells, associate professor of Mass Communication and 2015 Fulbright Scholar in Communication, will present “‘Our Kids in Azerbaijan” at 1PM on Tuesday, April 5, in STEM 101 on the A&M-Texarkana campus, 7101 University Ave.

Sponsored by the university’s Program for Learning and Community Engagement (PLACE), the presentation will explore the PLACE theme for 2015-16, “Economic Opportunity,” in relation to Dr. Ells’s former students in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he taught on a Fulbright scholarship during the spring semester of 2015.

“Our Kids” refers to the common reader selected by the A&M-Texarkana First-Year Experience  program, “Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis,” by Harvard University Public Policy professor Robert D. Putnam. The book examines the increasing class disparity in economic opportunity for early 21^st Century American students compared with their mid-20^th Century counterparts.

Dr. Ells’s talk will compare and contrast economic opportunity as experienced by American students with the experience of his students in Azerbaijan.  His talk will also survey general similarities and differences between the two countries’ histories, societies, politics and popular culture.

PLACE is a faculty-led program designed to create a community of learners comprising A&M-Texarkana students, faculty, staff and the community at large.

“Faculty members annually choose a common theme around which to organize a lecture series and other activities that provide focal points for learning and discussion,” said Dr. Michael Perri, associate professor of History and chair of the PLACE Committee.

PLACE’s goal is to expose its community of learners to a diversity of ideas from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.