Denison University's Laura C. Harris "Gendered Borders" series will present two Iraqi woman whose expertise and scholarly research focus on issues of art during war and gender relations under varying hardships. Also sponsoring these lectures are the Women's Studies Program and International Studies; Nada Shabout will lecture on "Gender, Creativity and War: Iraqi Women Artists" at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday (April 10) in the Burton Morgan Lecture Hall. Nadje Al-Ali will lecture on "Iraqi Women and Gender Relations between Dictatorship, Wars, Economic Sanctions, and Occupation" at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday (April 11) in the Burton Morgan Lecture Hall. Both speakers will lead a panel discussion, building on the themes from their individual convocations, at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday (April 12) in Higley Auditorium.

Shabout is an assistant professor of art history at the University of North Texas. Her current research project is titled, "Recovering Iraq's Modern Heritage: Constructing and Digitally Documenting the Collection of the Former Saddam Center for the Arts." Following the fall of the Baath regime in April 2003, most Iraqi institutions were devastated. Cultural institutions in the form of museums and patronage are now non-existent. She is the curator for the traveling exhibition, "Dafatir: Contemporary Iraqi Book Art." Her presentation at Denison will focus on the relationships between gender, creativity and war among Iraqi women artists. She will discuss the role and status of Iraqi women artists today and their role in transforming contemporary visual representations.

Al-Ali is a senior lecturer in social anthropology at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter, England. Al-Ali specializes in women and gender issues in the Middle East, especially women's movements and activism in Egypt and Iraq. She also has been working on the gendered aspects of transnational migration, and diaspora mobilization in Bosnia and Iraq. Her presentation at Denison will explore the various ways women and gender relations have been constructed in Iraq since the 1970s until the present day post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. Her most recent book, "Iraqi Women: Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present," challenges the myths and misconceptions that have dominated the debates over Iraqi women.

Calendar Listing:

CALENDAR LISTING: Denison University, Granville -- Laura C. Harris Gendered Borders Program presents Nada Shabout for a lecture on "Gender, Creativity and War: Iraqi Women Artists"; 4:30 p.m. Tuesday (April 10), Burton Morgan Lecture Hall (150 Ridge Road). Free and open to the public. Contact (740) 587-6297 to confirm information.

CALENDAR LISTING: Denison University, Granville -- Laura C. Harris Gendered Borders Program presents Nadje Al-Ali for a lecture on "Iraqi Women and Gender Relations between Dictatorship, Wars, Economic Sanctions, and Occupation"; 4:30 p.m. Wednesday (April 11), Burton Morgan Lecture Hall (150 Ridge Road). Free and open to the public. Contact (740) 587-6297 to confirm information.

CALENDAR LISTING: Denison University, Granville -- Laura C. Harris Gendered Borders Program presents Nada Shabout and Nedje Al-Ali leading a panel discussion of their previous lectures; 4:30 p.m. Thursday (April 12), Higley Lecture Hall (100 Ridge Road). Free and open to the public. Contact (740) 587-6297 to confirm information.

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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