Date: Sep 17, 2007

"The Shameful Times of Torture and Terror": A Lecture by Temma Kaplan

September 28, 2007, at 12:50 p.m.; Sponsored by the Center for Civic Engagement; History Department; Latin American & Caribbean Studies and Women's Studies

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY … Dr. Temma Kaplan will deliver the lecture, "The Shameful Times of Torture and Terror," at Hofstra University’s Guthart Cultural Center Theater on Friday, September 28, at 12:50 p.m. This event is sponsored by Hofstra's Center for Civic Engagement and the Departments of History, Latin American & Caribbean Studies and Women's Studies.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information call or e-mail Director of Women’s Studies Karyn Valerius at (516) 463-6817 or karyn.valerius@hofstra.edu or Assistant Professor of History Brenda Elsey at (516) 463-7003 or brenda.elsey@hofstra.edu.

The lecture will focus on the connection of torture and terrorism to the politics of gender and shame. By examining four women activists accused of terrorism in Argentina and Chile and how they reclaimed their political identities despite torturers' attempts to shame them, Dr. Kaplan considers the inverse relationship between shame and political solidarity.

Dr. Kaplan is a professor of history at Rutgers University whose research has focused on how gender affects people’s capacities to envision alternative situations and the creative means they use to achieve goals. Her work has focused on women, gender, sexuality, social movements and political popular culture in Argentina, Chile, Nigeria, South Africa, Spain and the United States.

Her books include: Red City, Blue Period: Social Movements in Picasso's Barcelona (1993); Crazy for Democracy: Women in Grassroots Movements (1997); and Taking Back the Streets: Women, Youth, and Direct Democracy (2004).

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution offering 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. With a student-faculty ratio of 14-to-1, professors teach small classes averaging 23 students that emphasize interaction, critical thinking and analysis. The Hofstra community is driven, dynamic and energetic, helping students find and focus their strengths to prepare them for a successful future.
 
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