The Black Hills State University (BHSU) Center for Civic Engagement will be hosting “It's Happening Here: American Renewal, Ingenuity, & Innovation” featuring James and Deborah Fallows from the Our Towns Civic Foundation in Meier Hall on November 5 at 5:30 p.m. This event is part of the newly established “Dr. Nicholas W. Drummond Civic Engagement Speaker Series” and is free to the public.
During the event, the Fallows will discuss their “New York Times” bestselling book “Our Towns,” which chronicles their five-year journey across America, highlighting stories of local innovation and civic renewal. Throughout the evening, they will explore how the communities they visited across the nation, including Sioux Falls and Rapid City, are driving America’s next chapter.
“James and Deborah Fallows have spent years crisscrossing our nation to discover the story of "Our Towns" that is playing out largely outside the media's gaze,” said Jason McConnell, director of the Center for Civic Engagement at BHSU. “Their reports of local communities banding together for rejuvenation and reinvention stand in stark contrast to national-level polarization that seems to be increasingly dividing the country. With that in mind it is quite fitting that we welcome the Fallows as the inaugural speakers of the Dr. Nicholas W. Drummond Civic Engagement Speaker Series.”
James Fallows is one of the world’s most respected journalists, known for his decades-long career as a national correspondent for “The Atlantic.” His work has earned multiple honors including a National Book Award, National Magazine Award, and an Emmy. Deborah Fallows is a Harvard graduate with a PhD in Linguistics, and has written for “The Atlantic Monthly,” “National Geographic,” and “Newsweek.” She is the author of “Dreaming in Chinese” and “A Mother’s Work.”
The Fallows will also be speaking at the University of South Dakota (USD), Thursday, November 6, at 7 p.m. in Farber Hall. This event is hosted in partnership with the USD Chiesman Center for Democracy.
