CMU's Center for Arts & Society presents an Afghan Dinner and a Reading: "Outspoken" with human rights activist Sima Samar
Reading and discussion with author Mukhtar Saad Shehata
Thursday, January 23rd, 2025 from 5:30-7:00pm
Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, CFA 111
Author and human rights activist Sima Samar will present a reading from Outspoken: My Fight for Freedom and Human Rights in Afghanistan (Penguin Random House 2024), Samar’s impassioned memoir of her lifelong struggle on behalf of women’s health, education, freedom, and rights in Afghanistan.
Described by one reviewer as “an extraordinary, gripping, and deeply moving book about the tragedy in Afghanistan,” Outspoken is a national bestseller that was shortlisted for the 2024 Moore Prize for human rights.
Join us to hear an excerpt from Samar’s book, engage in a discussion with the author, and enjoy a delicious meal catered by Aria Persian Cuisine. This event will be moderated by Visiting Professor of Afghan Cinema and Theater Habib Sorosh, who is a fellow of the CMU Artists and Scholars at Risk program.
Dr. Sima Samar, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and renowned human rights advocate, has dedicated her life to public service, humanitarian work, and women’s empowerment. Since 2002 she has been the Chairperson of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) which holds human rights violators accountable and sets the human rights agenda in Afghanistan. Her commitment to her community is evident through her NGO Shuhada Organization, which operates 55 middle and high schools for girls and boys in Afghanistan, and three schools in Quetta, Pakistan for Afghan refugees. In addition to this, Shuhada runs 12 clinics and three hospitals in Afghanistan and one hospital in Quetta for refugees, dedicated to providing education and healthcare, particularly focusing on women and girls. Dr. Samar is currently a Scholar at Risk fellow at the Fletcher School of Tufts University, where she brings her expertise and insights into pressing human rights issues to the Tufts community.