Dawn PorterThe University of Alabama at Birmingham African American Studies Program and the Department of Justice Sciences will host two events highlighting its role in the community.
“Race, Crime and Policing: Looking Beyond the 21st Century” will be a panel discussion moderated by Birmingham News police reporter Carol Robinson and featuring UAB Police Chief Anthony Purcell; Department of Homeland Security Instructor Sunnetta Slaughter; Director of the African American Studies Program Kathryn Morgan, Ph.D.; Chair of the Department of Justice Sciences John Sloan, Ph.D.; and Assistant Professor of Justice Sciences Hyeyoung Lim, Ph.D.
The discussion will start at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, in Hulsey Recital Hall, 950 13th St. South.
The UAB Social Justice Lecture Series will host its inaugural lecture Oct. 15 with attorney and documentary filmmaker Dawn Porter. She will talk about the making of her film “Gideon’s Army” – a look at three young public defenders in the Deep South struggling against long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads to challenge the basic assumptions driving the criminal justice system. The film, which premiered on HBO this summer, was an official selection in the prestigious U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the prize for “best editing.”
Screening of the documentary will begin at 6 p.m. followed by Porter’s lecture at 7 p.m. at the UAB National Alumni House, 1301 10th Avenue South.
A lawyer-turned-filmmaker, Porter won the 2011 juried Creative Promise Award for “Gideon’s Army,” while Realscreen named her one of its 2012 Doc Hot Shots 15 emerging directors to watch. Her other projects include “Spies of Mississippi” for ARTE Germany and PBS, and a documentary about celebrity Chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli for the Cooking Channel. She is also an executive producer on “The Green,” an independent feature premiering on Showtime Networks and starring Cheyenne Jackson and Emmy®-winning actress Julia Ormond.
The Social Justice Lecture Series is an initiative jointly sponsored by the African American Studies program, the Department of Justice Sciences, and the College of Arts and Sciences. The goals of the series include introducing a variety of social justice topics to the university and Birmingham communities and challenging common assumptions about social justice, while fostering critical thinking of social justice issues. Twice yearly, the series will bring to the UAB campus men and women who have risked everything in their single-minded pursuit of social justice.