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West Virginia University at Parkersburg 300 Campus Drive Parkersburg WV 26104 Phone:  304-424-8203 | Fax:  304-424-8315

WVU Parkersburg to host speaker on Afghan issues

CONTACT:  Nancy Nanney, chair of Humanities Division, 304-424-8361.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Photographer Peggy Kelsey will bring her work on Afghanistan to West Virginia University at Parkersburg and its Jackson County Center on Monday and Tuesday (Sept. 13-14).

“Afghanistan: Portraits and Stories” will be presented in Room 206 of the Jackson County Center in Ripley at 12:30 on Monday.  “Women of Afghanistan: Portraits of Spirit and Strength” will be presented at 7 p.m., Tuesday in Rooms 2536-38 at WVU Parkersburg.  

Both programs are free and open to the public. 

After meeting with a delegation of Afghan women in Texas in 2002, Kelsey was inspired to begin her Afghan Women’s Project.  In 2003, she traveled to Afghanistan and spent six weeks photographing the land and its people.  The results have been condensed into her two presentations: “Afghanistan: Portraits and Stories” and “Women of Afghanistan: Portraits of Spirit and Strength.”

One of the aims of Kelsey’s work is to dispel certain misconceptions about Afghan society. Interspersed throughout the programs will be the faces and stories of some of the women she met. She will also give a brief history of the country as well as a discussion of issues related to its development.  Currently living near Austin, Texas, Kelsey spent her junior year abroad at Pahlavi University in Iran.  She holds degrees in education and social work from Kent State University and began studying photography in the early 1990s.  Since then, she has presented her work to various community and academic organizations.

Both presentations are co-sponsored by the college’s Humanities Division Speakers Series and the Social Justice Committee.  Further information is available by contacting Nancy Nanney, chair of the Humanities Division; Rebecca Phillips, chair of the Speakers Series Committee, or Christine Post, Social Justice liaison for JCC.