16th annual Kegley Institute of Ethics Fall Lecture to take place in October

KIE hosts author, peace advocate, and former violent extremist, Christian Picciolini

By California State University, Bakersfield

October 12^th, 2020

The 16th annual Kegley Institute of Ethics (KIE) Fall Lecture is set to host author, peace advocate, and former violent extremist, Christian Picciolini, on Thursday, Oct. 29 at 6:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public via Zoom (see link below).

Picciolini’s talk is entitled “Breaking Hate: Confronting the New Culture of Extremism,” which is based on his latest book of the same title. The talk will focus on his experience as a former violent extremist in the white supremacist skinhead movement to now, including his disengagement from extremism and dedicating his life to the prevention and combatting of violence-based ideologies and recruitment practices. Picciolini will also share stories of individuals with whom he has worked and successfully disengaged from hate-based extremist movements.

"This event will educate us on the recent growth of white supremacist and other violent extremist movements while also providing insight on how to productively challenge hate-based ideologies and recruitment practices in our own communities. Christian Picciolini's personal experience as a former violent extremist and, now, as a leading figure in extremism prevention, provides a unique angle of vision on this pressing issue," said Dr. Michael Burroughs, director of the Kegley Institute of Ethics.

Picciolini will also be featured on an upcoming episode of the KIE podcast, “The Ethicist’s Corner,” which can be accessed for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, or iHeartRadio.

Christian Picciolini is also an award-winning television producer and, in 2016, won an Emmy Award for his role directing and producing an anti-hate advertising campaign aimed at helping youth disengage from white-supremacist groups. While working for IBM, Picciolini earned a degree in international relations from DePaul University and later began his own global media and counter-extremism consulting firm.

He currently leads the Free Radicals Project, a global network of extremism preventionists who are helping people exit hate movements and other violence-based ideologies around the globe.

Picciolini’s work has been featured on MSNBC, CBS “60 Minutes,” CNN, NPR and more, and has been featured in a number of news outlets, including the New York Times, Newsweek, the Washington Post, and more.

Per the new normal, but different than years past, this event will be held on Zoom, with access to the community, but will share the same goal, which is to bring the community together in conversation on a pressing issue in our world, specifically the rise of white supremacy and other extremist movements at this time.

As with other KIE Fall Lectures, there will be time for audience Q&A’s at the end, as well as engagement with the speaker.

Those interested can join this virtual event, here. For more information on this event and others like it, visit the KIE website and follow KIE on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.