Activist, writer Sarah Schulman to visit KU

LAWRENCE — Sarah Schulman will speak on her recent 2016 nonfiction book, “Conflict is Not Abuse: Overstating Harm, Community Responsibility, and the Duty of Repair”, at 7 p.m. Feb. 16 at The Commons in Spooner Hall. Schulman will host two other events while visiting KU to connect with students, faculty, staff and the community.

Schulman, distinguished professor of English at the College of Staten Island, CUNY, has produced an extensive body of work both within and beyond the academy. She has written 10 novels, the most recent of which is “The Cosmopolitans,” published in 2016 by the Feminist Press. Also in 2016, Schulman completed her seventh nonfiction book, “Conflict is Not Abuse: Overstating Harm, Community Responsibility, and the Duty of Repair,” which will inform her talks at KU.

The co-founder of Mix: NY LGBT Experimental Film and Video Festival and co-director of ACT UP Oral History Project, Schulman has worked continuously to build platforms for activist voices. One of her five films is a documentary that details the story of ACT UP. For her work, Schulman has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship as well as two fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts. She won a Kessler Prize for Sustained Contribution to LGBT Studies and a Stonewall Award for Improving the Lives of Gays and Lesbians in the United States. She is also the U.S. coordinator of the first LGBT delegation to Palestine.

In addition to her lecture Feb. 16, Schulman will be featured in a Coffee @ The Commons event at 10 a.m. Feb. 17 that focuses on “Change on a University Campus,” and following that, she will be the guest at a Lunch & Learn event at the Office of Multicultural Affairs at noon that will address student activism.

Schulman’s visit is the result of a collaboration of The Commons, KU Libraries, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the University Honors Program and the departments of American Studies and English. It complements a series of programs, called “Framing the Dialogue,” occurring in The Commons this semester that focus on identity, community and intersectionality.

The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required. 

Anyone needing special accommodation may contact the staff for assistance.