Commencement Ceremony 2017 & Keynote Speaker

May 12, 2017

The Spring 2017 Rhetoric and Film commencement will be held Wednesday, May 17th, 2017 at 2:00 pm in the Zellerbach Auditorium. The Reception to follow will be in Ishi Court!

We are also excited to announce that Jody Lewen will be this year’s Keynote Speaker. Jody Lewen received an M.A. in philosophy and comparative literature from Freie Universität, Berlin and her Ph.D. in Rhetoric from UC Berkeley in 2003.

Jody is the Executive Director of the Prison University Project at San Quentin which provides inmates access to excellent higher education programs. Their hope is "not only to provide educational opportunities to inmates but to ‘stimulate public awareness and meaningful dialogue about higher education and criminal justice in California.’"

She was the 2006 recipient of the Peter E. Haas Public Service Award from UC Berkeley, and the 2015 James Irvine Leadership Award. The Prison University Project received the 2016 National Humanities Medal, a high honor awarded by the White House and standing president.

For more information on Jody Lewen and her work, visit the links below:

– http://news.berkeley.edu/2016/09/20/national-humanities-medal-for-prison-university-project/

– https://prisonuniversityproject.org/

– https://prisonuniversityproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Lewen-HaasAwardLectureApril2007.pdf

– https://prisonuniversityproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Punishing-Evil-excerpt.pdf

– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFFnPQ6KZ18