Monday, September 08, 2008

Feminist, social critic and political activist Naomi Wolf will discuss "End of America: A Citizen's Call to Action" at 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 15 in Kenan Auditorium at University of North Carolina Wilmington. She raises awareness of the pervasive inequities that exist in politics and society and encourages people to take charge of their lives, voice their concerns and enact change. The talk launches the UNCW Leadership Lecture Series and is co-sponsored with UNCW Student Media and the UNCW Women's Resource Center. It will be followed by a question and answer period and book signing.

Wolf's first book, The Beauty Myth, challenged the cosmetics industry and its marketing of unrealistic standards of beauty. An international bestseller, it launched a new wave of feminism in the early 1990s. She followed with Fire With Fire: The New Female Power and How It Will Change The 21st Century, and Promiscuities: The Secret Struggle for Womanhood, published in 1997. Misconceptions, released in 2001, is a powerful and passionate critique of pregnancy and birth in America. Forthcoming this September is her newest book, Give me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries.

Wolf's latest book, The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, is an impassioned call to return to the aspirations and beliefs of the Founding Fathers. In it, Wolf exposes how the escalation of Executive Power has eroded these core values and systems, limiting our Congress to make laws, and our courts to interpret them - a scenario that our Founding Fathers foresaw and warned against. Wolf outlines in this citizen call to action, reminiscent of Thomas Paine's revered Common Sense, the real threats that exist to our civil liberties and explains how working together we can solve the growing threat.

Naomi Wolf is co-founder of the Board of The Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership, an organization devoted to training young women in ethical leadership for the 21st century. A graduate of Yale and a former Rhodes Scholar, Wolf has written essays for The New Republic, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Glamour, and The New York Times. Glamour magazine named her Woman of the Year in 2000.

BOX OFFICE AND TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are $9 for the public and free to UNCW students, faculty and staff. For tickets and information, call Kenan Box Office 910.962.3500 or visit www.uncw.edu/presents. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday and one hour prior to the event.

About UNCW Leadership lecture Series
The Leadership Lecture Series serves as a forum for intellectual inquiry and discussion offering the campus and community opportunities to discuss and explore the political, cultural and economic trends and issues that shape and affect our communities today. By inviting a speaker to the campus, the university does not endorse any particular position. Expect to be enlightened, challenged and inspired. For more information, please visit www.uncw.edu/presents.

Media Contact: Shannon Hooker, 910.962.7600