Author of "History of White People" Comes to USF

Dr. Nell Irvin Painter wrote the book "The History of White People," which raises the question: Can a black scholar write about white people? She's holding a public talk about that at USF Tuesday night.

When we talk about race many times what comes to mind is every race but white. Former Princeton professor and historian Dr. Painter (who is black) switches that around in her book, "The History of White People."

The book explores "whiteness" and the history of some ethnic groups that are considered white today but weren't in the past.

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Credit http://www.humanities-institute.usf.edu/

Dr. Nell Irvin Painter

Dr. Painter is the participant in USF's Humanities Institute's first Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence program.

Liz Kicak is assistant director of the Humanities Institute. She says the program was looking for a person who had a humanities-based topic but could also apply it to other fields.

"Her background in history and racial studies, and women studies, and art made her a really excellent choice because she is a noted public intellectual and she's able to speak to a wide variety of disciplines," says Kicak.

Dr. Painter's talk will be held at USF's Patel Center on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. It's free and open to the public.