In Defense of Truth
Art, Journalism, and Law Speak Out

It is with great honor that we celebrate the 35th recipient of the George Polk Career Award, Anna Deavere Smith. In recognition of this prestigious award, we invite you to join us for a panel discussion entitled In Defense of Truth; Art Journalism and Law Speak Out. Panelists include Anna Deavere Smith with Provost Ulrich Baer, Dean Allyson Green, Professor Perri Klass, and Dean Trevor Morrison.

The George Polk Awards, established in 1949 by Long Island University, are conferred annually to honor special achievements in journalism. With the selection of Anna Deavere Smith, the award committee deviated from its historic path of recognizing a traditional reporter. Ms. Smith is an educator, playwright and actress whose work has been celebrated simultaneously for its journalistic detail as well as its empathic treatment of the people she portrays. Ms. Smith conducts voluminous field interviews and researches official documents to create narrative scripts like Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities and Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, in addition to her latest work, Notes From the Field.

In Defense of Truth; Art Journalism and Law Speak Out aims to invite a university-wide discussion about gathering evidence in search of the truth within these mediums.

This event is free and open to the public.