Keynote Speaker:
Viet Thanh Nguyen

Aerol Arnold Chair of English, and Professor of English and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California, Viet Thanh Nguyen, will deliver the keynote for the Alternative Commencement hosted by New College of Florida graduates.

Nguyen won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel, The Sympathizer, which was turned into an HBO limited series, and received fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur Foundations. Students chose Nguyen both for the enjoyment of his novels and because his writing explores themes of identity, uncertainty, and navigating political power and propaganda—all of which are familiar themes for this group of graduates.