'Berg Hosts 11th Annual Social Research Social Justice Conference
Activist and Documentary Filmmaker Eugene Jarecki to Discuss Implications of the War on Drugs
Monday, March 31, 2014 02:22 PM
Muhlenberg College will host the eleventh annual Social Research Social Justice Conference (SRSJ) in Moyer Hall. The conference will kick off with the plenary event April 3, 7 p.m., featuring activist and filmmaker, Eugene Jarecki, who will talk about what drove him to make a penetrating documentary that looks at the profound human rights implications of America’s longest war: the war on drugs.
Awarded the 2012 Sundance Grand Jury Prize for his documentary The House I Live In, Jarecki details the past 40 years of the war on drugs that has resulted in more than 45 million arrests, $1 trillion in government spending, and America’s role as the world’s largest jailer. His other films include the 2005 Sundance Grand Jury Prize for his documentary Why We Fight, the Emmy award-winning Reagan (HBO, 2011), The Trials of Henry Kissinger (BBC/Sundance, 2002) and Freakonomics (Magnolia, 2010). In 2002, Jarecki wrote and directed the dramatic feature The Opponent for Lions Gate Films.
On Friday, April 4, students will present their research drawing from diverse interdisciplinary perspectives that focus on the issues of gender, religion, diversity, poverty, identity, the environment, media representation, power and more. Since its inception 11 years ago, the conference draws students beyond Muhlenberg’s famed red doors to include Moravian College, Lehigh University, Cedar Crest College, De Sales University, Lafayette College and beyond the Lehigh Valley.
The SRSJ Conference is made possible through generous support from the Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges; Muhlenberg College's department of media & communication, RJ Fellows Program, history department, the office of the provost and the office of the dean of the college for academic life; and through a collaboration between Lehigh University and Muhlenberg as part of the LVAIC Digital Storytelling Working Group.
The goal of SRSJ is to encourage undergraduate scholarship that aims to bring about social justice. All events are free and open to the public.
Muhlenberg College is a liberal arts college located in Allentown, PA. The undergraduate program has an enrollment of 2,150 students. The department of media and communication is comprised of courses emphasizing the areas of media and communication discovery, structure, and practice. The department is the one of the largest departments on campus, with over 175 students currently pursuing a degree in media and communication.
