Samina Ali, an author, activist, and cultural commentator, will be the keynote speaker for the University’s 2019 Diversity Conference on Monday, April 8.
The annual event begins at 9 a.m. at Strong Auditorium and is free and open to the public.
Ali’s debut novel, Madras on Rainy Days, was the winner of France’s prestigious Prix du Premier Roman Etranger Award and a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award in fiction. The book details a young woman’s arranged marriage and political awakening and was partly inspired by Ali’s real-life experience growing up in Hyderabad, India, and St. Paul, Minnesota.
At the heart of Ali’s work is her belief in personal narrative as a vital force for achieving women’s individual and political freedom, and the power of new and traditional media as platforms for social transformation.
A regular contributor to the Huffington Post and Daily Beast, Ali also has written for the New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle.
The objective of the day-long conference is for the University community and the Greater Rochester community to engage with diversity-related topics. This year’s theme is “finding the courage to lead.”
