Cullum to moderate Perkins lecture at SMU

Women’s health advocate Judy Norsigian, author of Our Bodies Ourselves, will speak at SMU, Thursday, Feb. 22 at a free lecture open to the public. Our Bodies Ourselves, first published in 1970, prompted dramatic changes in the treatment of women’s health issues. Journalist Lee Cullum will moderate a discussion of the book’s long history and its continuing relevance. The Library of Congress in 2012 named Our Bodies Ourselves to its list of 88 books that shaped America. Norsigian was author and editor for each of the nine editions of the landmark book on sexuality and reproductive health. A new and revised edition published by Simon & Schuster in 2011 received critical acclaim, including being named one of the best consumer health books of that year by Library Journal.

“No American woman has been more persistently involved in making available women’s health information,” says Bonnie Wheeler, SMU professor of English. “For the past 50 years Judy Norsigian has been a powerful advocate for women.”

Norsigian will speak at 3:30 p.m. in the Great Hall in Prothro Hall, 5915 Bishop Blvd in SMU’s Perkins School of Theology. Public parking is available. Reservations are requested at [email protected]. The event is sponsored by the Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute and the New Feminist Discourses and Social Change research cluster.

— Nancy George