Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a U.S. Army soldier killed in the Iraq War, will be the fall keynote speaker for the Laura C. Harris 2007-08 Symposium at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday (Oct. 4) in Slayter Hall Auditorium. The lecture, "One Person Can Make a Difference," is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the Department of Women's Studies.

Sheehan found herself in the media spotlight in the summer of 2005 when she protested the U.S. occupation of Iraq at Bush's home in Crawford, Texas. The mother of Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, who was killed outside of Baghdad in 2004, Sheehan announced that she would camp near the president's ranch until he agreed to talk to her about the U.S. policy in Iraq. To opponents of the war, Sheehan's personal tragedy gave her the moral authority to serve as the face of the anti-war movement. To supporters of the war, her vigil served to aid and abet the enemy and dishonored the memory of her son.

After moving her protests to Washington, D.C., Sheehan was arrested during an anti-war demonstration outside the White House in September 2005 and again in January 2006 after displaying an anti-war slogan while attending President Bush's State of the Union address; the charges were dropped the next day.

The Harris Symposium's theme for this year is "Feminism and War/Feminism and Peace." Speakers will look at the range of violence -- from that in our homes to violence on a global scale -- and critically inquire into its complex causes and impact on women's lives. Scheduled on the series during the fall semester are: "How to Help a Sexual Assault Survivor: What Men Can Do" by One in Four, a group of college-age men, at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 29 in the Burton D. Morgan Center Lecture Hall; a lecture by Anuradha Bhagwati, a former U.S. Marine, who decided in 2004 that she could no longer reconcile her conscience and values with serving in uniform, at 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 8 in the Burton D. Morgan Center Lecture Hall; and 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 -- Lecture by Cindy Sheehan, mother of Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, a war casualty in Iraq, on "One Person Can Make a Difference; 4:30 p.m., Thursday (Oct. 4), Slayter Hall Auditorium (200 Ridge Road). Free and open to the public. Contact (740) 587-6297 to confirm information or e-mail hortont@denison.edu

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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