For release: November 6, 2012
For press information, contact Dr. Aram Goudsouzian, 901-678-2520

Dr. Valerie Hudson

Dr. Valerie Hudson, the George H.W. Bush Chair at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, will reveal her groundbreaking conclusions about how to promote peace in the modern world during a lecture at the University of Memphis. Hudson will discuss “Sex and World Peace” on Wednesday, Nov. 14, in the University Center Theatre. A reception will begin at 6 p.m., followed by the lecture and book signing at 6:30.

The event is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Zach Curlin garage adjacent to the University Center.

Hudson believes the best predictor of a state’s peacefulness is not its level of wealth, its level of democracy, or its ethno-religious identity, but that the best predictor of state security is its treatment of women. With three colleagues, Hudson created the largest database on the status of women in the world today. Their subsequent book, Sex and World Peace, reveals an ironclad link between the well-being of a state and that of its women.

Hudson is the author or editor of several other books, including the award-winning Bare Branches: The Security Implications of Asia’s Surplus Male Population with Andrea den Boer. She was named one of Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2009 by Foreign Policy magazine.

The event is sponsored by the Marcus W. Orr Center for the Humanities. The Marcus Orr Center is dedicated to bringing together students, graduates, faculty, and the broader Memphis community for events that promote richer, deeper conversations about significant issues. 

For more information on this event or any of the programs of the Marcus Orr Center, visit www.memphis.edu/moch or contact its director, Dr. Aram Goudsouzian, at 901-678-2520 or agoudszn@memphis.edu.