This year marks the landmark 25^th anniversary of the Edward T. Breathitt Undergraduate Lectureship in the Humanities held on campus annually.

This year the lecture was hosted by philosophy, political science, and environmental studies senior Tiana Thé.

In her lecture, “The Era of #MeToo: Ignoring a Dangerous Contradiction in a Prism of Freedom,” she discussed how to navigate and confront industries and current social practices that are detrimental to the #MeToo movement.

Thé’s lecture confronted the entertainment industry, the pornography industry and expanded upon how society’s desensitization to harmful material in such industries has been detrimental to society’s development and the success of the #MeToo movement.

Thé’s lecture prompted attendees to think critically about the issues that lie in the heart of the internet age. Her commentary on the #MeToo movement’s inevitable impact on society begged the question “are we really capitalizing on the #MeToo movement and moving it in the right direction?”

 “We have made the unacceptable, acceptable and we’ve been forced to keep quiet about it in the era of #MeToo,” Thé said during her lecture. 

 “How do we move forward with this information?” asked one attendee. Thé offered that it may be time to start having serious discussions about the issue.

She also asserted that this is a topic that may offset or even offend some people, but that it is a serious topic that needs serious attention – pointing out our solution to engaging in discussion of the topic may be as simple as changing our rhetoric.

Thé’s insight on the extremely volatile topic provided context and understanding of the topic. When asked if she felt at all intimidated by such a daunting subject, she said she “was only daunted by doing the subject a disservice.’