The conference examined the foundations of our ideas of punishment, explored the
social effects of current practices and searched for viable alternatives to our
carceral state.
Punishment: The U.S. Record
SPECIAL EVENT PROGRAM:
Richard Gere and Carey Lowell Read Prison Writings (To order audio CDs of the other five sessions of the conference, please call 212-229-5776 x3121 or download this form and email socres@newschool.edu.) READINGS
Richard Gere, Film actor, social activist and philanthropist and
Founder, Healing the Divide Foundation
Carey Lowell, Actress, social activist and Member, Board of Directors, Healing the Divide Foundation
INTRODUCTIONS(Click on the audio links to open a streaming mp3 file)
Arien Mack, Alfred and Monette Marrow Professor of Psychology and Editor, Social Research and Conference Director Audio
Jackson Taylor, Associate Director, Writing Program., The New School
for General Studies and Prison Writing Program Director, PEN American Center Audio
These readings have been selected in collaboration with the PEN American Center's Prison Writing Program. Since 1973, the PEN American Center has sponsored a literary competition for men and women incarcerated across the United States. Most of these pieces are published in Doing Time: 25 Years of Prison Writing, a PEN American Center Prize Anthology (Arcade, 1999), edited by Bell Gale Chevigny.
HEALING THE DIVIDE FOUNDATION Founded in 2001, Healing the Divide (HTD) is a nonprofit organization based in New York. It is the mission of HTD to advance collaborative solutions to issues that threaten the welfare of marginalized communities throughout the world. Through the development of unique partnerships, the foundation is committed to challenging failed modes of communication and creating new forums in which cultural sensitivities and inclusiveness can thrive.
Aimed at humanitarian crises rooted in intolerance, injustice and inequality, our programs are in service to the ideal that positive common action will produce long-term sustainability for the common good.
Healing the Divide runs the largest nongovernmental media campaign against HIV/AIDS in India, The Heroes Project. The foundation also operates the Tibetan Health Initiative, a program created in honor of Ribur Rinpoche that currently provides health insurance to over five thousand Tibetan monks and nuns living in exile in India. In 2007, HTD will launch a criminal justice initiative with a seed grant from the Open Society Institute. BIOGRAPHIES
Richard Gere is an internationally known film actor, dedicated social activist and philanthropist. For over 25 years, he has worked to bring attention and effective resolution to humanitarian crises rooted in intolerance, injustice and inequality. Through his private foundation the Gere Foundation, Mr. Gere has served as a longtime advocate of human rights and an intent supporter of charitable causes.
Since the early 80's Richard Gere has been at the forefront of the fight against HIV and AIDS where he began a personal campaign against stigma associated with the disease. He has worked vigorously to protect the rights and cultural continuity of the Tibetan community. He was the Founding Chairman of Tibet House New York and is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the International Campaign for Tibet, which has allowed him to address international forums of influence more effectively. To draw awareness to the crisis in Tibet, Mr. Gere has addressed the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, the U.S. House of Representatives, the European Parliament, and the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva.
Deepening his commitment to philanthropy, he founded Healing the Divide (HTD) in 2001. It is the mission of HTD to advance collaborative solutions to issues that threaten the welfare of marginalized communities throughout the world.
Mr. Gere has received honors from the Harvard AIDS Institute, amfAR and Amnesty International. He has also received the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award.
Carey Lowell was born in New York and traveled the world extensively during her childhood due to her father's career as a petroleum geologist. After completing her freshman year at the University of Colorado, she returned to New York to study literature at New York University. In her spare time she studied acting and began a successful modeling career. Ms. Lowell made her debut in Club Paradise and shortly thereafter starred in the James Bond film, License to Kill. She has appeared in numerous films including Sleepless in Seattle, Leaving Las Vegas and Fierce Creatures. Ms. Lowell is best known to audiences as ADA Jamie Ross on NBC's Emmy award-winning drama Law and Order.
After a long-standing commitment to pediatric AIDS, Ms. Lowell joined Healing the Divide's Board of Directors in 2001 where she maintains an active position in the Foundation. Inspired by her recent role as Sunny in the New York cast of The Exonerated, Ms. Lowell is the Co-Chair of HTD's criminal justice initiative, which will launch in 2007 with a seed grant from the Open Society Institute.
This conference was supported by the Russell Sage Foundation, The Open Society Institute’s U.S.
Justice Fund, the Ford Foundation and The J.M. Kaplan Fund
and is also cosponsored by the ACLU.
For
more information, please contact:
Social
Research
Conference Office
65 Fifth Avenue, Room 375
New York, NY 10003
Phone: (212) 229-5776 x 3121
Fax: (212) 229-5476
E-mail: socres@newschool.edu
Conference
Location:
John L. Tishman Auditorium
The New School
66 West 12th Street, NYC
between 5th and 6th Avenues
