‘Brooklyn by way of Indiana’ writer Ashley C. Ford to speak at DePauw

Friday, August 16, 2019
Ashley C. Ford

Ashley C. Ford, the Brooklyn-based writer, host, and educator who deals with topics including race, sexuality and body image, will speak at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 5 at DePauw University as the Dorothy Garrett Martin Lecturer on Ethics and Values.

Describing her home as “Brooklyn by way of Indiana,” Ford is a Fort Wayne native and Ball State University graduate. She hosts PROFILE by BuzzFeed News and formerly hosted the news and culture TV show and podcast 112BK. Currently working with her husband, Kelly Stacy, on a collection of music-focused interviews called B-Side Chats, she is also penning a memoir, Somebody’s Daughter, which will be published by Flatiron Books under the imprint “An Oprah Book.”

Ford’s career includes teaching creative writing, hosting multiple podcasts and writing for The Guardian, ELLE, BuzzFeed, Slate, Teen Vogue, New York Magazine, Lenny Letter, INTO and other web and print publications. Much of Ford’s writing covers personal topics, including her life as a black, queer writer, her history as a survivor of sexual assault and her experiences with a family member in prison for most of her childhood. Her essay, “My Father Spent 30 Years in Prison. Now He’s Out” was named to Longread’s Best of 2017 list.

Ford has been named among Forbes magazine’s 30 under 30 in Media in 2017, Brooklyn Magazine’s Brooklyn 100 in 2016, and Time Out New York’s New Yorkers of the Year in 2017.

Ford has used her considerable social media presence to drive fundraising campaigns for charitable causes. She is credited with helping to raise $450,000 for the Ferguson, Mo., public library in 2014 and more than $100,000 to pay school lunch debts in 2017.

The Dorothy Garrett Martin Lectures on Values and Ethics grew from a program established at the University of Akron in 1992 by Dr. Paul Martin, who sought to honor his wife by establishing a forum for the open discussion of values and ethics. A quarter century later, lectures are held on campuses across the nation, featuring a wide range of speakers and topics. This marks the fifth Dorothy Garrett Martin Lecture at DePauw.

“We’re pleased to bring such a great writer and thinker – who happens to have Indiana ties – to Greencastle,” said Andrew Cullison, director of the Prindle Institute on Ethics. “The topics that Ashley Ford addresses in her life, writing and advocacy cut to the heart of some of our culture’s most vibrant ethical debates. I look forward to the conversation and the ongoing impact it will have on our students.”

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