'KINGSTON, R.I. -- April 12, 2002 -- Dorothy Roberts, a noted lecturer and author on the topics of gender, race and class in legal issues concerning reproduction and motherhood, will give the 22nd Annual Fredrika Wild Schweers Memorial Lecture on Women and Health.

Her talk, "Race, Reproduction and the Meaning of Liberty," will take place Tuesday, April 23 at 7 p.m. in White Hall, Room 113 at the University of Rhode Island’s Kingston campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Roberts is the author of more than 50 articles and essays in books, scholarly journals, newspapers and magazines. Her book, Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction and the Meaning of Liberty, received a 1998 Myers Center Award for the Study of Human Rights in North America. Her latest book, Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare, was published in December 2001.

Roberts serves as a consultant to the Center for Women Policy Studies and the Open Society Institute’s Program on Reproductive Health and Rights. She is also a member of the board of directors of the National Black Women’s Health Project, the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform and the Public Interest Law Center of New Jersey.

Her many endowed lectures include the James Thomas Lecture at Yale Law School and the Schallenberger Lecture on Medical Ethics at John Hopkins University. She has received many awards and honors, including the Radcliffe Graduate Society Medal.

Roberts is currently a professor at Northwestern University School of Law, with a joint appointment in the Department of Sociology, as a faculty fellow of the Institute for Policy Research, and as a faculty affiliate of the Joint Center for Poverty Research.

A reception will follow the lecture. For more information, please contact the Women’s Studies Office at 874-5150.

For Information: Jan Wenzel, 401-874-5190, Sarah Emmett, 401-874-2116