FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cindy Deppe, media relations, 641-269-4834

March 13, 2008

PHILOSOPHER JUDITH BUTLER TO SPEAK AT GRINNELL COLLEGE COMMENCEMENT

GRINNELL, IA - Philosopher and gender politics expert Judith Butler will address the Class of 2008 at Grinnell College’s 162nd Exercises of Commencement, on Mon., May 19, at 10 a.m. on Central Campus.

Butler, who is Maxine Elliott Professor of Rhetoric and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley, is a prolific writer and author of 10 books and essay collections, including "Undoing Gender" and "Giving an Account of Oneself."

Currently at work on essays pertaining to Jewish philosophy, Butler continues to write on feminism, gender and sexual politics, and cultural and literary theory. In 2004, she published a collection of writings on war’s impact on language and thought titled "Precarious Life: Powers of Violence and Mourning." She was recently selected to membership in the prestigious American Philosophical Society.

Grinnell College, which annually confers B.A. degrees on more than 300 students, is a nationally recognized, private, four year, liberal arts college located in Grinnell, Iowa. Founded in 1846, Grinnell enrolls 1,600 students from all 50 states and from as many international countries in more than 25 major fields, interdisciplinary concentrations, and pre-professional programs.

If inclement weather, the May 19 commencement ceremony will be held in Darby Gymnasium. For further information about Grinnell College commencement, go to http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/ce/commencement/2008/

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