Mind Your Beys And Qs Next Week With An Open Lecture On Beyoncé At UIC

By Danette Chavez in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 9, 2015 8:00PM

Photo courtesy of Joshua Mellin

There's a good chance that, at any given moment, somewhere people are talking about the influence of Beyoncé on popular culture. After all, the Queen Bey is a global brand, having launched countless fashion trends and marketed just about everything. But her reach has gone beyond the stage and red carpet, and has inspired numerous discussions and think pieces about feminism.

The University of Illinois at Chicago is offering a chance for local discourse on the subject of Ms. Knowles-Carter on March 18 with Who Run the Classroom?: Scholars & Students Discuss Black Feminism & Beyoncé. This community classroom event will examine Bey's "connection to contemporary issues of class, race, gender and sexuality." Continuing education never sounded so good.

The discussion will be led by Dr. Jennifer Richardson, a UIC research assistant professor of gender and women's studies and Kevin Allred, a Rutgers professor and scholar of black feminism. Dr. Richardson is currently teaching Beyoncé: Critical Feminist Perspectives of U.S. Black Womanhood for UIC's spring semester and Allred made national news back in 2010 when he introduced his course, Politicizing Beyoncé: Black Feminism, U.S. Politics, & Queen Bey.

Who Run the Classroom?: Scholars & Students Discuss Black Feminism & Beyoncé, presented by the University of Illinois at Chicago, will be held the UIC Lecture Center A1 (805 S. Morgan St.) on March 18 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.