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Posted on Sun, Nov 13, 2011 : 1:03 p.m.

University of Michigan to host 'Iron Woman' of the Middle East on Monday

By Kellie Woodhouse

Clinton_Wood.jpg

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks with Yemeni Nobel Prize Winner Tawakkul Karman last week. Karman will speak at the University of Michigan on Monday.

AP Photo

The first-ever female Arab Nobel Peace Prize recipient will give a speech at University of Michigan's Ann Arbor campus on Monday.

Yemeni human rights activist Tawakkul Karman will discuss women and their role and rights in the Middle East.

Women's rights is a familiar subject to Karman, who has fought for women's rights in Yemen for over a decade. She was awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize last month for her work on behalf of women in the authoritarian country. Karman has also been a strong democracy advocate and was arrested briefly in January because of her outspoken political views.

She is commonly known as the Iron Woman of the Middle East.

The speech will take place Monday from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at U-M's Rackham Auditorium in Ann Arbor. It is open to students and the public. There will be a question and answer session following Karman's talk.

Karman also will make an appearance in Dearborn tonight. Dearborn has one of the highest concentration of Arab Americans in the country and is often referred to as Arab America.

Karman's talk follows another U-M speech given by a female peace activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner in October. Burmese political activist Aung San Suu Kyi gave the U-M Wallenberg Lecture before a crowd of hundreds at Rackham Auditorium on Oct. 25.

Kellie Woodhouse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at kelliewoodhouse@annarbor.com or 734-623-4602 and follow her on twitter.

Comments

say it plain

Sun, Nov 13, 2011 : 6:32 p.m.

From the headline, I thought this story was going to be about a tri-athalon or something done in hijab or something lol... maybe some actual inclusion of her name in the headline?!