Filmmaker to speak at 'JHU Forums on Race in America' series

Johns Hopkins University has announced that filmmaker, attorney, and criminal justice reformer Dawn Porter will be the next featured guest at its JHU Forums on Race in America series. She will speak at 10 a.m. on Dec. 2 in Shriver Hall.

Porter is the founder of Trilogy Films and director/producer of Gideon's Army, a feature-length documentary film that follows three public defenders working in the deep South as they struggle with long hours, low pay, and overwhelming caseloads. Gideon's Army, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO that summer, has received numerous recognitions and awards, including the Nation Institute's Ridenhour Documentary Film Prize.

Members of the Johns Hopkins community with a JHED ID and password can view Gideon's Army from now until Dec. 2 at http://hub.jhu.edu/vip/hopkins-race-forum-live.

Porter has also been a producer and writer for television, an executive for network standards and practices, and a practicing attorney. After the forum, she will lead a Race in America roundtable discussion with a group of undergraduate students.

JHU Forums on Race in America, launched last spring, is sponsored by university leadership, the Center for Africana Studies, the Diversity Leadership Council, the Black Student Union, the Black Faculty and Staff Association, the Office of Institutional Equity, the Latino Alliance, and Student Affairs. Previous speakers have included Ta-Nehisi Coates, national correspondent for The Atlantic and author of Between the World and Me; and Charles Blow, an op-ed columnist for The New York Times.

Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Robert C. Lieberman said he and university President Ronald J. Daniels "are pleased to see the series continue as part of a universitywide commitment to discussing and addressing issues of diversity, inclusion, and academic freedom."

To learn more and register to attend, visit the JHU Forums on Race in America website.