Cultural scientist to discuss ethics of merit

MOUNT PLEASANT ? Michael Hill of the University of Iowa will engage Iowa Wesleyan College students in a conversation about the Ethics of Merit: some black views and some white views, at 11 a.m. Thursday in the Iowa Wesleyan College Chapel Auditorium.

His program will introduce students to the debates over excellence that framed their births in the early 1990s, and ask how these ways of thinking have formed society?s views. Hill will explore definitions of excellence and look at two or three case studies ? including those of famous athletes.

Hill teaches in the departments of English and African American studies at the University of Iowa, where he has been on the faculty since 2006.

In his books, he dissects topics including civil rights, literature, welfare, the prison industrial complex, substance abuse, film, music and youth fashion. His presentations and teaching have included such themes as Living as Real People, A Hip Hop Canon, and The Consequences of Faking Passion.

Hill has a doctorate and a master?s degree in English and American literature and language from Harvard University. He graduated cum laude from Howard.

His teaching and research interests include African American literature, 20th-century American literature; drama, 19th-century British novel, popular culture, narrative theory, nationalism, gender and race.

Hill?s program is open to the public. It is part of the weekly Forum series at Iowa Wesleyan College.