The leading authority on the American South will give a speech titled “Barbecue and Politics” at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9. It will on The Citadel’s campus, in Room 165 of Bond Hall.

John Shelton Reed is a scholar, author, sociologist and humorist. He has written and edited more than 20 books, including My Tears Spoiled My Aim, Mixing It Up: A South-Watcher’s Miscellany, and 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About the South, which examines topics from the civil rights movement to the Moon Pie.

Raised in Kingsport, Tenn., Reed earned his undergraduate degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received his Ph.D. from Columbia University. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow, a Fellow of the National Humanities Center, and twice a Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. He has lectured at over 300 colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad, including a number of universities in India as a Fulbright Distinguished Lecturer, and has held visiting positions at many institutions, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Institute of United States Studies at the University of London, and All Souls College, Oxford University.

Reed was Mark Clark Visiting Professor of History at The Citadel in 2007, and has delighted audiences with his witty, insightful talks when he has returned to campus over the years since.

About The Citadel

The Citadel, with its iconic campus located in Charleston, South Carolina, offers a classic military college education for young men and women focused on leadership excellence and academic distinction. The approximately 2,400 members of the S.C. Corps of Cadets are not required to serve in the military, but about one-third of each class earn commissions to become officers in every branch of U.S. military service. Citadel alumni have served the nation, their states and their communities as principled leaders since 1842. The Citadel Graduate College, founded 50 years ago, offers 25 graduate degree programs with 22 concentration options, 25 graduate certificate programs and 10 evening undergraduate programs in the evening or online. Named Best Public College in the South by U.S. News & World Report for eight consecutive years and No. 1 Best Public College for Veterans in the South.