The Debra L. Lee Lecture Series presents remarks by Katherine Chon, senior adviser on trafficking in persons at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, on Thursday, March 12, 2015.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Katherine Chon, senior adviser on trafficking in persons at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will deliver the 2015 Debra L. Lee Lecture on Thursday, March 12, 2015. Her address will begin at 6 p.m. in List Art Center, Room 120, 64 College St. The event is free and open to the public and will be livestreamed at http://www.brown.edu/web/livestream/.

Titled “Confronting the Cycle of Slavery: Why the Arc of Abolition Must Span Generations,” Chon’s address will spotlight the development of contemporary human trafficking markets, consider the lessons learned from the legacies of abolition, and inform how communities can disrupt the cycles of slavery.

Katherine Chon

Katherine Chon, a 2002 graduate of Brown, has spent the last 14 years identifying and implementing community-driven solutions to combat modern forms of slavery, sparked by a local human trafficking case in Providence, R.I. Chon partnered with Derek Ellerman, a Brown classmate, during their senior year at Brown to co-found Polaris, a leading nonprofit organization in the global fight to eradicate modern slavery and restore freedom to survivors. She currently serves as the senior adviser on trafficking in persons at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. After receiving her Sc.B. in psychology from Brown, Chon earned an M.P.A. from the Harvard Kennedy School and completed the Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

The Debra L. Lee Lecture

The Debra L. Lee Lecture Series is an annual event of the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, which invites distinguished scholars and activists to Brown to discuss historic and contemporary issues related to the legacy of slavery in the Americas and the world. Past speakers have included photographic historian Deborah Willis and historian Marcus Rediker.

The Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice

The Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice (CSSJ) is a scholarly research center with a public educational mission. Developed in response to a recommendation from the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice, CSSJ aims to create a space for the interdisciplinary study of historical forms of slavery, its legacies, and contemporary forms of human bondage. The CSSJ is dedicated to a policy of global public engagement. For more information about the CSSJ, visit www.brown.edu/slaveryjustice.