Humanities lecture series explores current events

September 24, 2009 : 6 p.m.

Guest lecturers will discuss and explore sex trafficking, the Holocaust and worldwide refugee situations in ASU’s School of Letters and Sciences Humanities Lecture Series at the Downtown Phoenix campus.

Katie Resendiz’s “Sex Trafficking in the US and Arizona” will commence the Fall 2009 Humanities Lecture Series, which is in its second year. The two-hour presentation starts at 6 p.m., Sept. 24 at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, 555 N. Central Ave., Room 122.

The lecture series is open to the general public and is free.

“The Humanities Lecture Series provides us with opportunities to analyze, discuss and interpret current events. We look forward to public discussions that help us understand and appreciate various points of view on political, social and cultural issues,” says Frederick C. Corey, director of ASU’s School of Letters and Sciences and dean of University College.

The School of Letters and Sciences provides students across ASU with the knowledge and skills to comprehend and effectively engage the changing world of the 21st century at local, national and global levels. Theory, creativity and applied learning are integrated as students build entrepreneurial opportunities both inside the university and in their communities.

Resendiz, a trafficking training coordinator with the Arizona League to End Regional Trafficking (ALERT), said each year tens of thousands of men, women and children are illegally brought to the United States and Arizona from all parts of the world.

“Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery and is the world’s most rapidly growing crime. They are forced to work in a variety of labor-intensive jobs such as domestic servitude, manufacturing, construction, agricultural work, hotels, restaurants and forced prostitution,” Resendiz says. “This session will serve as an introduction to the issue of human trafficking, while exploring the intricacies of this horrendous crime.”

The US State Department has identified Arizona to be in the top five states for human-trafficking activity.

The lecture series schedule includes:

• “Personal Reflections on Surviving the Holocaust and Life After” presented by Holocaust survivor Bernard Scheer, noon, Oct. 8, University Center, 411 N. Central Ave., room 286, Phoenix.

• “Refugee Situations in Arizona, Burma, Iraq and Bhutan” presented by Joanne Morales, director of Refugee Programs for Catholic Charities. The presentation takes place at 6:30 p.m., Nov. 12 at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, 555 N. Central Ave., room 125, Phoenix.

Marshall Terrill, Marshall.Terrill@asu.edu
(602) 496-1005
ASU Office of Public Affairs