"Is America a failed experiment?"

John McWhorter's lecture is a part of the College of Arts & Science's America250 events.

"Many voices teach us as a higher wisdom that America has been an ongoing mistake, founded in barbarity and ever maintaining pitiless injustice and inequality, of a kind and extent beyond the possibility of repair," McWhorter says. "I suggest that this perspective, while often considered a form of enlightenment, is based on an always tempting retreat from addressing complexity and degree, and that higher education should embrace a more positive and constructive view of the American experiment."

McWhorter is not just a linguist — he’s a storyteller of language, a cultural critic, and a fearless commentator on the social issues of our time. As a professor at Columbia University, McWhorter has spent his career dissecting the ways in which language evolves, adapts, and reflects the human condition. His research into creole languages, dialects and sociolects offers a window into the ever-changing tapestry of human communication.