Author Rebecca Walker headlines 'DEIS Impact 2017

Photo/David Fenton

Rebecca Walker

Author and feminist thought leader Rebecca Walker will be the keynote speaker at 'DEIS Impact 2017, Brandeis University’s annual festival of social justice.

Walker brings with her two decades of experience, insight and innovation to the global conversation about identity, culture and power. She is the founder of the Third Wave Fund for Social Justice and is the bestselling author of "Black White & Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self," and the editor of "Black Cool: One Thousand Streams of Blackness." She also writes and develops projects for television, including work for Tig Notaro's "One Mississippi" and the Emmy Award-winning "Transparent."

Walker's keynote address, "The World in You and You in the World: Identity in Action," will be held Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. in the Shapiro Campus Center Theater. For members of the Brandeis community, free tickets can be acquired at Brandeis Tickets in the Shapiro Campus Center. Off-campus guests should email pospecialevents@brandeis.edu or call 877-736-4098 to request tickets.

Along with the keynote address, Walker will engage with the Brandeis community in a number of events around campus, including a screening of an episode of the TV series "Transparent” in which Walker appears onscreen, with faculty and student respondents, on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at Wasserman Cinematheque.

'DEIS Impact is a collaboration of the Brandeis Undergraduate Student Union and the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, with support provided by the Louis D. Brandeis Legacy Fund for Social Justice and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. This year’s festival features nine open classes in 'DEIS Impact College and 42 events sponsored by student clubs, faculty members and academic departments. It kicks off Thursday, Jan. 26 and runs through Sunday, Feb. 5. All ’DEIS Impact events are free and open to the public.