Date: Mar 22, 2007

Visiting Fulbright Scholar to Speak at Hofstra

Dr. Soyini Madison to Discuss “Acts of Activism: Human Rights and Radical Performance”

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY – Hofstra’s Speech Communication, Rhetoric and Performance Studies department is pleased to welcome visiting professor Dr. Soyini Madison. Dr. Madison will discuss "Acts of Activism: Human Rights and Radical Performance," on Thursday, April 12, 2007 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in 103 Dempster Hall, the home of Hofstra’s School of Communication.

Dr. Madison has recently returned from doing research in Ghana, West Africa as a Senior Fulbright Scholar conducting field research on human rights, local activism, and corporate globalization.  She received a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship in Bellagio, Italy for her current book project, "Acts of Activism: Human Rights and Radical Performance," which is based on her fieldwork in Ghana.

"Since the inception of our graduate program, students in Speech Communication, Rhetoric, and Performance Studies have been studying Dr. Madison's work on performance ethnography and human rights and been inspired by it,” said Dr. Lisa Merrill, professor in the Speech Communication, Rhetoric and Performance Studies department. "We are extremely fortunate to have her speak on campus and expect that colleagues and students in related fields such as Anthroplogy, Africana Studies, Women's Studies, and Drama and colleagues involved with the Center for Civic Engagement will also benefit from this  opportunity."

Dr. Madison also adapts and directs her ethnographic work for the public stage. "I Have a Story to Tell," is a performance reflecting the labor struggles of University of Carolina service workers, "Mandela, the Land, and the People" is a performance based on the life and work of Nelson Mandela., "Is It A Human Being or A Girl?" is a performance ethnography on traditional religion and human rights activists in Ghana, and “Water Rites” a multi-media performance on the corporate privatization of water and water as a human right in global South.

Dr. Madison is also the author of Critical Ethnography: Methods, Ethics and Performance, the co-editor with Judith Hamera on The Sage Handbook of Performance Studies, and editor of The Woman that I Am: The Literature and Culture of Contemporary Women of Color.

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution where students find their edge to succeed in more than 140 undergraduate and 155 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business, communication, education and allied human services, and honors studies, as well as a School of Law. The Hofstra community is driven, dynamic and energetic, helping students find and focus their strengths to prepare them for a successful future.