Sherri Mitchell to deliver 2017 Rezendes Ethics Lecture April 19
Humanitarian and lawyer Sherri Mitchell will present the 2017 John M. Rezendes Visiting Scholar in Ethics Lecture at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 19, in Nutting Hall, Room 100.
Mitchell’s lecture is titled, “The Heart of Spirit Based Change.” A reception will be held at 3:30 p.m.
Mitchell was born and raised on the Penobscot Indian reservation. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine, and a Juris Doctorate and a certificate in indigenous people’s law and policy from the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law. Among her many recognitions are the 2010 Mahoney Dunn International Human Rights and Humanitarian Award, and the Spirit of Maine Award in 2015 for commitment and excellence in the field of international human rights. In 2016, Mitchell was included in the esteemed portrait series, “Americans Who Tell the Truth,” by Robert Shetterly.
Mitchell has a private law practice in Maine, is the founding director of the Land Peace Foundation, and serves as an adviser to the Indigenous Elders and Medicine Peoples Council of North and South America. Her legal experience includes working as a law clerk for the solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C., and as staff attorney for Pine Tree Legal’s Native American Unit.
Mitchell is the co-host of “Love (and Revolution) Radio,” a syndicated radio program that highlights stories of heart-based activism and revolutionary spiritual change. Her spiritual activism is being featured in a documentary on transformational change makers by New Story Film. Her book “Sacred Instructions; The Heart of Spirit Based Change” will be published in September 2017.
The John M. Rezendes Visiting Scholar in Ethics Lecture was established in 1999 to critically engage students, faculty and the community in ethical issues of national importance.
The lecture is part of the John M. Rezendes Ethics Initiative, a program established through a gift from Dennis and Beau Rezendes, which also includes the John M. Rezendes Ethics Essay Contest open to undergraduate students at UMaine.