Saudi Arabian activist Manal Al-Sharif is coming to Carleton! She'll be
giving a public talk at 12 PM in Leighton 303 on January 29th. The
talk is called "The Saudi Women Spring." Food will be provided to the first 30
guests.
Manal Al-Sharif helped found the Women2Drive campaign which has
been effectively organizing women in Saudi Arabia for the right to drive motor
vehicles. The campaign has been successful, in part by using youtube and
facebook to promote acts of civil disobedience. Becuase of the Women2Drive
campaign there are now over 100 regular women drivers in Saudi Arabia.
She has also been a pioneer in many other ways. After being imprisoned
for driving, and for inciting others to do the same, she protested the Saudi
prison system which keeps women in jail after they even after they have
completed their prison terms. Al-Sharif is a computer security professional and
is the first Saudi woman to specialize in the information security field.
Manal Al-Sharif has won numerous awards in the past few years. Among
these honors, al-Sharif was awarded the first annual Vaclav Havel Prize for
Creative Dissent. She was also listed among time magazine's 100 most influential
people of 2012.
Again, on January
29th, 12 PM at Carleton College in Leighton 303. See you
there.