Cornel West is one of America’s most gifted, provocative, and important public intellectuals and has been described as a man who plays two roles. First, he is a highly regarded scholar of religion, philosophy, and African-American studies. Formerly a university professor at Harvard (a position held by only 17 of 7,000 faculty), he is currently a Professor of Religion and African American Studies at Princeton University. Second, he is described as an \"intellectual provocateur\" outside of the academic world, appearing in lecture halls, on television, at protest rallies, on his own rap CD, and on the silver screen.
West’s unprecedented academic achievements include a 1973 degree from Harvard University in which he graduated magna cum laude in just three years, and MA (1975) and Ph.D. (1980) degrees from Princeton University. West’s writing, speaking, and teachings have been known to weave together the American traditions of the Baptist church, transcendentalism, socialism, and pragmatism. He has won numerous