Temple University Professor Heather Ann Thompson presents a lecture, “From Mississippi to Mānoa: Why Mass Incarceration Matters to Our Cities, Our Economy and Our Democracy,” with Honolulu-based lawyer and activist Sonny Ganaden on Monday, March 2, 2015, 4:30 p.m. in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Art Auditorium.
Thompson is one of the most active and influential figures in the growing scholarly and public debate about mass incarceration. Her work on the history of incarceration has been recognized by fellowships from the Soros Foundation, American Philosophical Association, Rockefeller Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Most recently, Thompson served as a member of the National Academy of Sciences Commission on Mass Incarceration and on September 14, 2014 testified before the U.S. Congress on the commission’s report and findings.
She has also published widely on the issue of mass incarceration. Her article, “Why Mass Incarceration Matters: Rethinking Crisis, Decline, and Transformation in Postwar American History” was judged the best scholarly article published in 2011 by the Urban History Association. Thompson’s article in The Atlantic, “How Prisons Change the Balance of Power in America,” was a finalist for the 2014 Just Media Award of the National Council for Crime and Delinquency.
Sonny Ganaden, a graduate of the William S. Richardson School of Law, helped write the Native Hawaiian Justice Task Force Report published in 2013.
Additional lecture
On March 2, Thompson will also deliver a talk on her forthcoming book about the Attica prison rebellion of 1971 at 2:30 p.m. in the History Department Library, Sakamaki Hall at UH Mānoa.
