Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: Registration Open for Eighth Annual Symposium

The College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to host its eighth annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium and Keynote Lecture, with students, faculty, staff, alumni and surrounding community members invited to reflect on the legacy of one of the nation’s most revered advocates for racial justice and social change. 

Offered in-person, the multi-part program will take place on Friday, January 16, 2026, (Keynote Lecture) and Monday, January 19, 2026 (One-Credit Symposium).

Seton Hall undergraduate students who wish to receive one credit must enroll for AFAM 3291: MLK Day Symposium via PirateNet for the Spring 2026 semester and attend both the keynote lecture and Monday’s workshop. The course falls under Spring semester flat tuition and is at no additional cost, regardless of credit load. Undergraduate students will be assigned two post-event essays to complete course requirements. 

Undergraduate students seeking University Life engagement credit may participate in either the keynote lecture (January 16) or the service project component of the symposium (January 19) between 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

The program is open to all Seton Hall students, faculty, administrators and alumni as well as the external community at no cost; however, registration is required for planning purposes. Registration for both events is now open, with details available on the symposium’s website.

Keynote Lecture 
On Friday, January 16 from 9 – 10:30 a.m. in the University Center, Event Room, Professor Khyati Y. Joshi, Ed.D., Peter Sammartino School of Education, Fairleigh Dickinson University, will deliver this year’s keynote address, titled “The Role of Religion in The Founding of America: Implications for the Civil Rights Movement Leadership.”

Joshi is a public intellectual whose social science research and community connections inform policy-makers, educators and everyday people about race, religion, and immigration in 21st century America. She has lectured around the world and published ground-breaking scholarly and popular work in her field, while also serving as an advisor to policy-makers and as a leader in the South Asian American community. 

Her most recent book is White Christian Privilege: The Illusion of Religious Equality in America (New York University Press, 2020). She is also the co-editor of the new book Envisioning Religion, Race, and Asian Americans (University of Hawaii Press, 2020), and was an author and co-editor of Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice 3rd edition (Routledge, 2015), one of the most widely used books by diversity practitioners and social justice scholars alike.

“Dr. Joshi's extensive 21st century work, expands upon and provides a modern, intersectional framework for the paradigm of ‘belonging’ that compliments the 20th century contributions in the social justice and anti-racism legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.,” commented Reverend Forrest Pritchett, Ph.D., program director of the University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Program. 

Joshi has previously engaged Seton Hall students through lectures with the Peoples and Cultures of America course. “We are pleased to host and welcome her back to Seton Hall,” added Pritchett.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Workshop
On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Monday, January 19, 2026) from 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in Bethany Hall, Room A, a one-credit workshop will be open to undergraduate students as well as members of the Seton Hall and surrounding communities.

The 2026 symposium will examine the 250th birthday of the United States as viewed through thematical and contextual analysis from Martin Luther King Jr. and the fields and disciplines of Africana studies, history and social justice studies.  

Additional course content will explore themes of social justice, leadership and emergent social change through student presentations and faculty-led discussions examining the historical foundations of American freedom. 

Topics include colonial New Jersey’s role in early American history; African American revolutionary freedom aspirations, as reflected in the lives and legacies of Crispus Attucks, Phyllis Wheatley and James Forten; and the enduring impact of figures and moments such as Frederick Douglass, the Dred Scott v. Sandford Supreme Court decision and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

A D.O.V.E. Service project will complete the day. “Dr. King said ‘Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?’ so adding a charitable act emphasizes the Seton Hall University mission and our constant dedication to servant leadership,” said Ghana Hylton, associate director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Program and director of Campus Inclusion. 

To view the symposium’s full Schedule of Events and for details on how to register, please visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Symposium website for more information.

Categories: Arts and Culture, Education