A former U.S. Marine and current member of Iraqi Veterans Against the War (IVAW), Anuradha Bhagwati, will speak at Denison University at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 8, in the Burton D. Morgan Center Lecture Hall (150 Ridge Rd.). The lecture is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the Women's Studies Program as a part of the Laura C. Harris Symposium.

Bhagwati joined the Marines in 1999 and left in 2004 because, as she has stated, "I realized that my conscience and my values could no longer allow me to serve in uniform." She has since worked at Middle East Nonviolence and Democracy (MEND) in East Jerusalem, assisting in providing human rights training to Palestinian forces as part of a project to help the transition of the Palestinian National Authority to democratic law. As a student at the Kennedy School of Government and a member of IVAW, she co-founded the Palestine Awareness Committee. She is particularly vocal about the pressures within the military that restrict dissenting voices, including peer pressure and the internal guilt of "abandoning" fellow troops.

The Harris Symposium's theme for this year is "Feminism and War - Feminism and Peace." Symposium speakers have examined the range of violence -- from that in our homes to violence on a global scale -- and critically inquired into its complex causes and impact on women's lives. Remaining events in the series include an exhibition of works by modern Iraqi artists from the collection of Dia al-Azzawi from Nov. 30 to March 7 in the Denison University Museum. More events are set for the spring semester.

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Calendar Listing:

CALENDAR LISTING: Denison University, Granville -- Harris Symposium lecture by Anuradha Bhagwati of Iraqi Veterans Against the War; 4:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 8, Burton D. Morgan Center Lecture Hall (150 Ridge Rd.). Free and open to the public. To confirm information, call (740) 587-6297.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

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