April 18, 1996 Contact: Barbara McKenna (408) 459-2495; mckenna@ua.ucsc.edu

DOWNTOWN LECTURE SERIES CONTINUES MAY 8 WITH A TALK ON THE NATURE OF POLITICAL DEBATE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--A lecture series presented jointly by the Humanities Division at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the Art Museum of Santa Cruz County continues on May 8 with the talk, "Abundant Righteousness: Moralism in Contemporary Political Life." The talk is presented by UCSC professor of women's studies and legal studies Wendy Brown and is free and open to the public. It takes place from 7 to 8 p.m. at the McPherson Center for Art and History, 705 Front St., Santa Cruz. A reception follows.

Why is contemporary political discourse so steeped in moralistic claims and rebukes? From "political correctness" on the left to talk of "family values" on the right, what makes political moralizing so common in our time? How might such moralizing be read as a symptom of certain contemporary losses and confusions? In her talk, Brown will examine the tendency toward moralizing in political life and consider what prevents more useful and generous forms of thinking and discussion about justice.

Brown's most recent book is States of Injury: Power and Freedom in Late Modernity (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1995). She is codirector of UCSC's Center for Cultural Studies and chair of the Advisory Board to the UC Humanities Research Institute.

The lecture series runs through June 12 on the second Wednesday of each month, offering a range of lively topics of interest to the general public. For more information, call the Humanities Division at (408) 459-2696 or the Art Museum at (408) 429-1964.

This release is also available on the World Wide Web at UCSC's "Services for Journalists" site (http://www.ucsc.edu/news/journalist.html).

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