Dr. Ards has spoken across the country at universities, high schools, corporate events, book festivals, and community forums.
Popular topics and workshops:
- Words of Witness: Using Story in Service of Social Justice
- African American Women's Stories in the Age of Black Lives Matter
- Making Lemonade: Mixing Art, Activism, and Scholarship
- Introduction to African American Literature
- Literary salons on latest best-sellers
Prior engagements include...
- Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University
- Hutchins Center, Harvard University
- Modernism Seminar, Humanities Center, Harvard University
- Literature Section, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Barack Obama and American Democracy Conference, Tufts University
- Columbia University School of Journalism
- College of Wooster
- University of Texas at Arlington
- Modern Language Association
- American Studies Association
- College Language Association
- Smithsonian Institute
- George W. Bush Presidential Library
- Dallas Institute for Humanities and Culture
- Mercedes-Benz Financial Services
- The Hockaday School
Dr. Ards facilitating the P-SAM literary salon on Ta-Nehisi Coates’ book, Between the World and Me.
DR. ARDS SPEAKING WITH DALLAS INSTITUTE DIRECTOR LARRY ALLUMS AND CULTURAL CRITIC TOURÉ AT THE 9TH ANNUAL MLK JR. SYMPOSIUM
“Thank you so much for your superb class at the Dallas Institute. It was informative, stimulating, thoughtful, and taught with grace. For me, it awakened memories and reminded me that we truly belong to each other when we allow our imaginations to remain even slightly receptive to the storied imaginations of others. You were a marvelous guide and I’m so pleased that SMU has your talents.”
Participant, Intro to African American Literature Series
“Dear Dr. Ards,
Again, I thank you for your class. You gave us your best and we knew it. Just one of the marks of an excellent teacher.”
Participant, Intro to African American Literature Series, Dallas Institute for Humanities and Culture
“I wanted to give you both [Larry and Claudia Allums, directors of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture] my impression of Angela Ards. Her classes were stimulating, thorough, and of very high quality. She is an outstanding teacher, able to stimulate thought and to encourage conversation. Her familiarity with African-American literature was communicated with critical insight and nuance. She graciously drew the class into the complex areas of black literary expression giving the white majority of the class an awareness and empathy of the black experience none of us had previously. In short, we did not want the class or the conversation to end. I urge you to bring her to the Institute often in order to continue to enhance Dallas’ conversation about race. Not only to present classes about literature, but she would be an excellent panelist and organizer of special sessions or events surrounding music, art, and poetry readings. For fun, maybe an evening of rhythm and blues.”