FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Shirin Ebadi, the first Iranian and first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, will lecture on “The Role of Women in World Peace,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20, in the Fayetteville Town Center on the downtown square. The lecture is free and open to the public. No tickets are required. She is speaking as part of this year’s University of Arkansas student Distinguished Lecture Series.

Doors will open at 6 p.m.

University of Arkansas students can take free shuttle buses to and from the Town Center, starting at 5:30 p.m. and running until 9 p.m. The buses will leave from and return to the Harmon Avenue Garage and the  the Union underpass by the main street level doors. 

Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 in recognition of “her efforts for democracy and human rights. She has focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children."

She left Iran in 2009 after several years of harassment by government authorities. She currently lives in exile in London, but speaks frequently in the West, and is still an outspoken critic of Iran’s record on human rights. She remains a devout Muslim and an advocate for peaceful change in Iran.

The Distinguished Lecture Series is a student-sponsored program, a part of the Office of Student Activities. For accommodations due to disability please contact the Office of Student Activities, osa@uark.edu, or call 479-575-5255.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.