J.D. Vance Brings His 'Hillbilly Elegy' to University of Arkansas

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J.D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – J.D. Vance, author of the New York Times No. 1 bestseller Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, will give a free public lecture at the University of Arkansas, discussing his book and the changing political climate in America.

The lecture will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 6, in the Arkansas Union Theatre. No tickets are required, but seating is limited. The event is sponsored by the Center for Multicultural and Diversity Education.

There will be a question and answer session after the lecture, and a brief reception following the event.

Vance gives a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis — that of white working-class Americans. Tracing his family history as well as the slow decline of this particular demographic, he tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck. In this timely talk, Vance sheds light on an often forgotten corner of the country, offering not just a powerful picture of how upward mobility really feels, but also the loss of the modern-day American dream.

Vance uses the term “hillbilly” with ambivalent pride to describe his extended family and the working class culture he grew up in. He was born in the Appalachian town of Jackson, Kentucky, and raised in Middletown, Ohio, but anyone who has lived in Arkansas will recognize the “hillbillies” he describes, the positive and negative qualities they share, along with the problems and frustrations they have experienced over the past 50 years.

Vance is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, a graduate of Ohio State University and Yale Law School, a lawyer, a contributor to the National Review and to CNN. He lives in Ohio with his wife and two dogs.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.