Featured speakers are Barbara Martinez Jitner and Reza Aslan

BOONE – “Borders and Bridges: What Divides Us, What Unites Us” is the theme of the University Forum Distinguished Lecture Series this spring at Appalachian State University.

Speakers include filmmaker and human rights activist Barbara Martinez Jitner, whose mission is to bring the untold stories of Latina women to television and film, and author Reza Aslan, who addresses the topic of Islam, the Middle East, and Muslim Americans with authority, wit, and an infectious optimism.

Barbara Martinez Jitner will speak on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m. in Farthing Auditorium. Reza Aslan will speak on Tuesday, April 17, at 8 p.m. in Powers Hall in the Broyhill Events Center. All lectures are free and open to the public.

Presentations of the University Forum Distinguished Lecture Series are sponsored by the University Forum Committee and the University College. Additional support for the series has been provided by the Joan Askew Vail Endowment.

Information about other events associated with this series may be obtained at www.universityforum.appstate.edu or by calling University College at 828-262-7660.

About the speakers

Martinez Jitner’s lecture is titled “On the Border of a New America: Wall of Shadows.” The film “Bordertown,” a political thriller about murdered factory workers in Juarez, Mexico, was inspired by Martinez Jitner’s critically acclaimed documentary, “La Frontera,” which was released in 2007. Martinez Jitner posed as a factory worker on the U.S./Mexico border to uncover a dark world of grueling poverty and sexual abuse.

Martinez Jitner is one of the first Latina executive producers of a primetime network television series. The Emmy-nominated “American Family” made history when it debuted in 2002 as the first Latino drama on broadcast television. She is also the first Latina ever to be nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award as an executive producer/writer/director for a miniseries, which she received for “American Family.”

Raised by her grandmother, a Mexican immigrant, Martinez Jitner’s mission is to bring the untold stories of Latinas to both television and film.

Reza Aslan’s lecture is titled “Understanding Muslims and the Future of the New Middle East” and addresses a drastic shift taking place in the Middle East.

A new generation of youth in the Middle East are clamoring for their rights and freedoms and they drastically outnumber their elders. Seventy-five percent of the population of the Middle East is under the age of 35 and 50 percent is under the age of 25. The young, educated and politically motivated youth in places like Iran, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and beyond have a new vision – one that represents their values, not the values of a ruling elite or of the generation that preceded them.

Aslan is a world-renowned expert on the Middle East, its history, economy, culture and populations. In this eye-opening talk, Aslan goes beyond skin-deep punditry and reveals the true nature of these historic societal changes. What motivates the Muslim youth of today? What will the new Middle East look like? How will these sudden regime changes affect the world’s economic and political climate? With unparalleled authority and eloquence, Aslan unravels the complexities of the new Middle East and shows audiences what the future holds for this often misunderstood part of the world.

Aslan is the author of the international bestseller “No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam,” which has been named by Blackwell Publishers as one of the 100 most important books of the last decade. It’s now available in 13 languages. Aslan appears regularly in the media, on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report,” among other high profile outlets. He has degrees in religion from Santa Clara University, Harvard and UC Santa Barbara, as well as a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa, where he was named the Truman Capote Fellow in Fiction.

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