At her inaugural distinguished professor lecture, a University of Kansas scholar will talk about how the U.S. Army has contributed to social change in America.

Foundation Distinguished Professor of History Beth Bailey will deliver the lecture, “The U.S. Army and the ‘Problem of Race,'” at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 25 in the Jayhawk Room of the Kansas Union. The lecture is open to the public.

According to a KU announcement, Bailey’s talk draws from her current book project, which examines how the Army as an institution responded to demands for social justice and tried to manage what it understood as the pressing “problem of race” during the Vietnam War era and the decade that followed.

Beth Bailey

Bailey joined KU in fall 2015 and is founding director of the university’s Center for Military, War, and Society Studies. 

She specializes in U.S. history with expertise in both the U.S. military and gender and sexuality. Baily’s most recent book, “America’s Army: Making the All-Volunteer Force,” examines the nation’s move from the draft to an all-volunteer force in the wake of the Vietnam War.