Race Scholar Orlando Patterson to Speak at Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – Orlando Patterson, John Cowles Professor of Sociology at Harvard University, will deliver a lecture on Thursday, Feb. 22, at 4 p.m. in the Brooks Concert Hall. Patterson's lecture, on his most recent book "Rituals of Blood: Consequences of Slavery in Two American Centuries," is free and open to the public.

The author of eight books, Patterson is a major contributor to the public discussion on race in America and is a leading scholar on the comparative study of slavery, freedom and ethnic inequalities. "Rituals of Blood" is the second book in Patterson's trilogy on race relations in the United States. His first novel, "The Children of Sisyphus," is now a classic of West Indian literature.

Patterson won the National Book Award in 1991 for "Freedom in the Making of Western Culture." His opinion pieces appear in The New York Times, Newsweek, The New Republic and other periodicals. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

This lecture is sponsored by the First Year Program and the Deans' Office