ISSUED: 15 August 2018
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University’s Common Reading program will present its first event of the academic year, a lecture by Dr. David Gordon, professor of history, titled “We Will Never Do Without Family,” which examines Hyeonseo Lee’s escape from North Korea, on Wednesday, September 5, at 7 p.m. in the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education auditorium. The event, which is co-sponsored by the Shepherd University Foundation, is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
Hyeonseo Lee’s “The Girl with Seven Names: Escape from North Korea” is this year’s common reading book. Lee’s story is rooted in the history of Korea, an ancient civilization that was divided into north and south after World War II. Lee, and later her mother and brother, escaped from North Korea. Gordon’s lecture will compare Lee’s description of North Korea with the totalitarian regime depicted in George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984,” finding many similarities and one major difference—in North Korea, family serves as a quiet but secure lifeline for its citizenry.
Gordon holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Hawaii and has taught at Shepherd since 2000. His research focuses on modern East Asian intellectual history. In 2009, his college-level biography of Chinese revolutionary Sun Yatsen was published by Pearson Prentice Hall.
Lee will visit Shepherd on Monday, October 1, to present a lecture at 7 p.m. in the Frank Center Theater followed by a book signing.
For more information, visit www.shepherd.edu/commonreading.
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