Henderson is the daughter of the late Rev. Oliver Brown, named in the court case, Brown v. Board of Education, which deemed school segregation unconstitutional. Kennedy is the daughter of the late former governor of Alabama, George C. Wallace, who infamously tried to block desegregation in Alabama’s schools, in contrast to her own views. Both women welcome the opportunity to present together.

The event is the first in a series at 麻豆原创 that celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. Ambassador Harriet Elam-Thomas, 麻豆原创鈥檚 Diplomacy Program director, will moderate the forum, and vice president of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Student Government Association, Sydney Altfield, will provide opening remarks.

The forum, which is free and open to the public, will be 3 p.m. in the Cape Florida Ballroom of the Student Union. For more information, visit聽.

This event is a feature of the 20th anniversary celebration of the Women’s Studies Program at 麻豆原创, which includes a week of campus and community .

Presentations will be given by international humanitarian Alison Thompson and two Fulbright foreign language teaching assistants, Bahia Braktia from Algeria and Ayumi Yamamoto from Japan. The forum will be moderated by Maria Cristina Santana, director of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Women鈥檚 Studies Program.

Thompson鈥檚 international volunteer work earned her the Order of Australia, the highest civilian medal awarded by Queen Elizabeth II of England. Her documentary film, The Third Wave, focuses on her experience volunteering in Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami. It premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival in New York and was shown at at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.

Braktia and Yamamoto are teaching Arabic and Japanese, respectively, this year at 麻豆原创. Both host periodic cultural events that help students learn more about language and culture outside the United States.

In addition to the Global Perspectives Office, sponsors and partners of this forum include Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jay Garner, 麻豆原创 Student Government Association, 麻豆原创 Women’s Studies Program, 麻豆原创 Women’s Research Center, 麻豆原创 Burnett Honors College, Lawrence J. Chastang and the Chastang Foundation, 麻豆原创 Political Science Department, 麻豆原创 LIFE, 麻豆原创 Book Festival 2013 in Association with the Morgridge International Reading Center and the Global Connections Foundation.