HUMAN RIGHTS AND PEACE | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation

Zafra Lerman grew up with deep-seeded values. These values became ingrained in her being, and led her to dedicate her life to using science diplomacy to fight for peace and for human rights. She developed a new curriculum for teaching science through art, music, dance, and drama for underprivileged students around the world.

Human Rights and Peace is a genre-busting first-person narrative in which Professor Lerman recounts her remarkable life--a life that has led her all around the world from the Soviet Union to Peru, from China to Cuba, and beyond, where she fought for dissidents being denied basic human rights. And, perhaps most importantly, life led her to Malta where Lerman conceived, coordinated, and launched the Malta Conferences. These biennial, international meetings include scientists from across the Middle East, Nobel laureates, and political leaders, who use science diplomacy as a bridge to peace in the Middle East.

The book is an inspiring call to action showing how Lerman's life and work have led to the innovative use of science as diplomacy in the fight for human rights and peace. Her work is an inspiration to educators, scientists, policymakers, and general readers. There is no equivalent, competing work.

Zafra Lerman is joining us on the Busboys stage alongside Monika Blaumueller to dive deeper into her memoir and share more about her experiences as a scientist and human rights activist.

This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Please note that this event is in person.

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Zafra Lerman is a scientist, educator, and human rights activist. She always believed in the power of science to encourage social mobility and, on a broader scale, understanding between nations. The pinnacle of her career has been the series of "Malta conferences," now in its 20th year, in which scientists from all Middle Eastern countries come together with several Nobel laureates for a week to establish understanding and collaboration toward bridging peace in the Middle East.

Monika Blaumueller harnesses high tech innovations to address the world’s stickiest challenges. Her TED Talk presents opportunities to improve the lives of the world’s most vulnerable populations. More recently, she has worked to combine innovations in artificial intelligence and autonomous devices to pinpoint and safely remove explosive hazards of war without any human presence, enabling countries like Ukraine to save lives and limbs at disruptively lower costs and accelerated timetables.

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