UNCW Presents hosts political writer Matt Bai at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 26 in Kenan Auditorium as part of the UNCW Leadership Lecture Series. Bai will present his lecture, "The Generational Change in American Politics and Society: Obama and Beyond." Weaving timely insight with historical perspective, Matt Bai examines the social change rippling through American life, seamlessly integrating politics, culture and the media. The talk is co-sponsored by UNCW Student Media and will be followed by a question and answer session.
Bai is one of the most respected and widely read political journalists in America. At the New York Times Magazine, he writes non-partisan stories - many of them cover stories - that illuminate the entire political spectrum. He has interviewed the presidential candidates, talked with the political heavyweights, and has profiled the surprising - and surprisingly powerful - new activists and powerbrokers who are reshaping American politics in the age of Obama.
Upon graduating from the Columbia School of Journalism in 1994, Bai received a Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship, which is awarded to graduate students nominated by the faculty in recognition of outstanding journalism. Bai went on to take a position as a staff writer at The Boston Globe, where he worked from 1995-96. Bai spent the next five years traveling the country as a national correspondent for Newsweek. During that time he reported on the Columbine shootings and the related Jonesboro High School shooting. He also spent six months chronicling Senator John Glenn's return to space and covered politics nationwide.
After spending 2001 as a fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics and at The Kennedy School of Government, Bai began working as a contributing writer and campaign reporter for The New York Times Magazine in 2002, where he remains today. Bai's work is concerned with how politics have become increasingly intertwined with popular culture and with the way this affects the political process.
Also an author, Bai wrote The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics, which received critical acclaim and was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2007. In the book, Bai follows the rise of the first internet-age political movement and profiles the people who established it. The Washington Post called The Argument "unsparing, incisive and altogether engaging."
BOX OFFICE AND TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are $9 for the public. For tickets and information, call Kenan Box Office 910.962.3500 or visit www.uncw.edu/presents. Box office hours are 10 am to 6 pm, Monday through Friday and one hour prior to the event.
About UNCW Leadership lecture Series
The Leadership Lecture Series serves as a forum for intellectual inquiry and discussion offering the campus and community opportunities to discuss and explore the political, cultural and economic trends and issues that shape and affect our communities today. By inviting a speaker to the campus, the university does not endorse any particular position. Expect to be enlightened, challenged and inspired. For more information, please visit www.uncw.edu/presents.
