Day Without Violence Event to Feature UMass Lowell’s 2017 Peace Scholar
Image by David S. Holloway for the Open Society Foundations
03/31/2017
Media contacts: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu and Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
* M E D I A A D V I S O R Y
Tuesday, April 4, 12:30 p.m.
WHAT: Noy Thrupkaew, an anti-human trafficking activist who is UMass Lowell’s 2017 Greeley Scholar for Peace Studies, will discuss the causes and impact of the practice across the globe during the university’s annual Day Without Violence.
Thrupkaew’s research, writing and public speaking all over the world about human trafficking shines a light on how violence, fraud or coercion is used to force people into a range of roles not of their choosing. Her 2015 TED Talk, viewed online more than 88,000 times, shares her realization as an adult that her childhood nanny was the victim of human trafficking. This discovery inspired her to work to expose such crimes and advocate for better law-enforcement response in order to stop them.
The Day Without Violence is observed annually on college campuses across the country. Launched in 1996 by the Peace Studies Association – of which UMass Lowell is a founding member – the event pays tribute to the work and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Previous Day Without Violence speakers at UMass Lowell include 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee, South African anti-apartheid leader Albie Sachs and humanitarian John Prendergast, all of whom were also Greeley Scholars.
Thrupkaew’s Day Without Violence talk, “A Crisis from Which We Bleed: Resisting Economic Injustice Across the Divide,” is free and open to the public. High school students from Westford Academy are scheduled to attend, along with the UMass Lowell community.
WHERE: O’Leary Library Learning Commons, Room 222, South Campus, 61 Wilder St., Lowell. Contact media relations for directions and parking information.