Rafik Mohamed, dean of Cal State San Bernardino’s College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, will present the next Yotie Talks, “Black Men on the Blacktop: Basketball and the Politics of Race,” on Thursday, June 1.

The free talk, presented by the University Diversity Committee and the John M. Pfau Library, will take place at noon in the Physical Sciences building, room PS-10.

Yotie Talks is a topical lecture program similar to TED Talks, where dynamic experts from CSUSB’s faculty talk about current and topical issues that impact the region, the state and the nation, and encourages questions and discussions from students, faculty, staff and community residents to promote better understanding.

Mohamed, whose research has focused on domestic drug policy, sports sociology, and issues of racial identity and inequality in the United States, earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology and criminal justice from George Washington University, and his master’s degree in social ecology and Ph.D. in criminology, law and society from UC Irvine.

From 1999-2009, Mohamed served as a professor at the University of San Diego, where he was also the chair of the sociology department, and twice selected as the university’s outstanding professor of the year.

Between 2009 and 2015, he served as the chairperson for the Department of Social Sciences at Clayton State University in Atlanta, Ga., where he was also recognized in 2015 with a University Professorship award.