Former Bucknell sociology professor Jennifer Silva, now a professor in the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, will present a free, public lecture entitled “Class, Politics, and American Identity in Flyover America” as part of the Questioning American Identities speaker series on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. in Bucknell Hall. The Bucknell Program for American Leadership and Citizenship is sponsoring the series, which features speakers from a diverse set of political backgrounds whose research and teaching interests, as well as personal experiences, led them to various kinds of critical perspectives about the climate for serious intellectual exchange on college campuses.
Silva’s research interests include political culture, social class, inequality, transitions to adulthood, qualitative methods, and family and intimate life. The focus on her talk will be based on research conducted, in part, for her new book, We’re Still Here: Pain and Politics in the Heart of America, which examines transformations in rural and working-class American communities, including central Pennsylvania coal region towns.