Symposium: The Problem of Punishment: Race, Inequality, and Justice. With keynote speaker: Angela Davis

“Democratic rights and liberties are defined in relation to what is denied to people in prison. So we might ask, what kind of democracy do we currently inhabit?” — Angela Y. Davis

The Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies at the University of Virginia will present a symposium, The Problem of Punishment: Race, Inequality, and Justice, on Thursday, April 16 & Friday, April 17. Activist and scholar Angela Davis will deliver the keynote address on April 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Newcomb Hall Ballroom.

Please refer to the symposium announcement for a complete list of speakers, times, and locations:
http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/woodson/symposium/index.html

This symposium is free and open to the public.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:

Angela Davis is a historian and philosopher who has conducted extensive research on race, gender and imprisonment. Her books include Abolition Democracy: Beyond Prisons, Torture, and Empire (Seven Stories Press, 2005) and Are Prisons Obsolete? (Open Media, 2003). In the 1960s, Davis was active with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee before joining the Black Panthers. She ran for U.S. Vice President on the Communist Party ticket in 1980 and 1984, but has since left the party. Davis has been an activist and writer, promoting women's rights and racial justice, while serving as Professor Emeritus of History of Consciousness and of Feminist Studies at the University of California-Santa Cruz. Her participation in the conference is part of a week-long residency at the Woodson Institute, beginning April 13, during which time she will visit several classes.