Nobel Peace Prize laureate and political activist Jody Williams will speak Thursday, March 21, at UCF about “Banning Landmines: Disarmament, Citizen Diplomacy and Human Security.” Her presentation will be at 3 p.m. in the Pegasus Ballroom of the Student Union.
The event, organized by the UCF Global Perspectives Office, is part of the 2012-2013 theme of “The Changing Face of Freedom in Today’s Turbulent Times.” The event is free and open to the public.
Williams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her work related to the banning and clearing of anti-personnel mines. Toward that effort, she served as the founding coordinator, chief strategist and spokesperson for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. In 2004, she and other laureates took the lead in establishing the Nobel Women’s Initiative, which she chairs.
She has been twice recognized as a “Woman of the Year” by Glamour magazine and was named by Forbes Magazine as one of the 100 most powerful women in the world. She writes extensively and her work is featured in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune and Columbia University’s Journal of Politics and Society.
Williams also co-authored a seminal book on the landmine crisis in 1995, After the Guns Fall Silent: The Enduring Legacy of Landmines. Her most recent book, Banning Landmines: Disarmament, Citizen Diplomacy and Human Security, analyzes the Mine Ban Treaty and its impact on other human security-related work. Her memoir, My Name is Jody Williams: A Vermont Girl’s Winding Path to the Nobel Peace, is out this month.
In addition to the Global Perspectives Office, sponsors and partners include the UCF Global Peace and Security Studies Program, UCF Student Government Association, UCF Diplomacy Program, UCF Middle Eastern Studies Program, The India Center at UCF, UCF China-Taiwan Cross-Strait Program, UCF Kurdish Political Studies Initiative, UCF Human Trafficking Awareness Program, Lawrence J. Chastang and the Chastang Foundation, UCF International Services Center, UCF Political Science Department, UCF LIFE, UCF Book Festival 2013 in association with the Morgridge International Reading Center and the Global Connections Foundation.