FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 3, 2012

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] – At 5:30pm on Monday, May 7, 2012, Dr. Guila Clara Kessous will give a lecture entitled “Theater and Human Rights” in the second floor Lownes Room of the John Hay Library followed by a reception. This lecture is sponsored by Friends of the Library and is part of the Mel and Cindy Yoken Cultural Series. It is free and open to the public.

Dr. Kessous will consider representations of humanitarian cause on stage and examine the responsibilities and challenges artists and audiences face in exploring material of this nature. The presentation will focus on scenes from plays directed by Dr. Kessous in English and in French.

Guila Clara Kessous leads the Harvard Kennedy School Carr Center’s Initiative in Theater and Human Rights. She is the recipient of the State Diploma of Performing Arts among other awards, Kessous acted, directed and produced in major theatres in the US and Europe. She received a PhD in ethics and aesthetics under the mentorship of E. Wiesel, an MBA in cultural business, and a cross-disciplinary MA in comparative dramaturgy, cinema, and pedagogy. She has taught at Harvard, Boston University, the Sorbonne, and the Wiesel Institute. Her sponsors include UNESCO (director, “Hilda”), the UN (director, “Tribute to Human Rights”), and the CNRS among others. She has collaborated with artists including John Malkovich, James Taylor, Marissa Berenson, Daniel Mesguich, and Theodore Bikel. In 2010, she partnered with the United Nations on the theme “Theater and Human Rights” and was awarded the “Chevalier Arts et Lettres” from the French Minister of Culture. In 2011, UNESCO named her an “Artist for Peace” giving her the opportunity to collaborate directly with francophone countries spanning three different continents on the Mediterranean project.

Friends of the Library is an association interested in fostering the growth and usefulness of the Brown University Library and in encouraging gifts of books, desirable collections, other scholarly materials and funds.

The Brown University Library is home to more than 6.8 million print items, plus a multitude of electronic resources and expanding digital archives serving the teaching, research, and learning needs of Brown students and faculty, as well as scholars from around the country and the world.

Contact: Jennifer Braga |  401-863-6913

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