The Scripps College Humanities Institute March lectures will continue to explore “Life Stories” under the leadership of Institute Director Julia E. Liss. On Thursday, March 25, at 4:15 p.m., best-selling author Azar Nafisi will present “The Saving Power of Literature” in the Hampton Room of the Malott Commons on the Scripps College campus. For more information and a complete schedule of events, please call the Humanities Institute at (909) 621-8326.
“Life Stories” lectures and events explore the nature and creation of memoirs and delve into the life histories and stories of some of the lecturers.
Nafisi’s most recent work, Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, combines autobiography and criticism. Currently professor of literature at the Johns Hopkins University, Nafisi specializes in the study of Iran, Middle East culture, and human rights. She is also director of the Dialogue Project at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. An activist on behalf of women’s rights and democracy, Nafisi speaks and writes from her experience as a college professor in Iran at Tehran and Allemeh Tabataba’i Universities during and after the 1979 Islamic revolution. Her first book was Anti-Terra: A Critical Study of Vladimir Nabokov’s Novels.
Also as part of the “Life Stories” program, a Luncheon Series will feature Scripps professors, T. Kim-Trang Tran and Sheila Walker. On Tuesday, March 23 at noon in the Hampton Room of the Malott Commons Tran will present “Call Me Sugar.” Then, on Tuesday, March 30 also at noon in the Hampton Room of the Malott Commons, Sheila Walker will present “Hoochie Mamas and Chicken Heads: ‘Life Stories’ of African American Adolescent Girls.” Guests to these lectures may bring their own lunch or purchase a lunch at the Malott Commons Dining Hall, which opens at 11:15 a.m. Doors to the Hampton Room open at 11:45 a.m. Coffee and dessert are provided.
The “Life Stories” program continues throughout April. For a full schedule of events, please contact the Humanities Institute at (909) 621-8326 or visit the Humanities Institute website.