Ledford to present lecture

Assistant Professor of Journalism Charles “Stretch” Ledford will present a lecture “Shooting with the Gun Guys: Gaining Access, Establishing Rapport, Breaking Through” on Monday, April 4 at 3:30 p.m. in the Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum. The presentation is part of the Center for Advanced Study’s Spring Symposium. The event is free and open to the public.

Ledford’s cameras have taken him from the slums of Nairobi and Lagos to America’s urban ghettos to the homes of some of Illinois’ most vocal gun-rights advocates - worlds that are as far removed from one another culturally as they are geographically.  Ledford will discuss the challenges and rewards inherent in his immersive style of visual journalism as while showing images from his current project examining Illinois’ gun culture.

Ledford was named a CAS Fellow for the 2015-16 academic year. Each year, the tenured and untenured University of Illinois faculty are invited to submit scholarly or creative proposals for consideration by the Center’s permanent Professors. Faculty members with winning proposals are appointed Associates and Fellows and awarded one semester of release time to pursue their projects in the coming academic year.

In accordance with the Center’s mission, these appointments provide an incentive to pursue the highest level of scholarly achievement. They also provide faculty members with an unusual opportunity to explore new ideas and demonstrate early results.