Wafaa Bilal
Professor at the Department of Photography & Imaging Wafaa Bilal will be one of three distinguished individuals who will receive honorary doctoral degrees at DePauw University's 180th annual commencement. The Iraqi American artist and educator willl be joined by historian, author and professor Ann G. Carmichael and noted jazz trumpeter Eddie Henderson.
Bilal will receive an honorary Doctor of Performing Arts degree from DePauw. Known internationally for provoking dialogue about international politics and internal dynamics through high profile, Bilal's technologically-driven projects employ the use of robotics, the internet, and photographic mobile mapping. The professor's work is constantly informed by the experience of fleeing his homeland and existing simultaneously in two worlds -- his home in the “comfort zone” of the U.S. and his consciousness of the “conflict zone” in Iraq. Using his own body as a medium and based in New York City, Bilal continues to challenge the comfort zone of audiences with projects such as 3rdi, and Counting..., and Domestic Tension.
The ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 19, at 10 a.m. in Holton Memorial Quadrangle in Greencastle, Indiana.