True Story of Liberian Women’s Non-Violent Role in Securing Peace for Liberia Documented in Film “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” at UNLV Nov. 6

WHAT: Former Liberian President Amos Sawyer will discuss the state of Liberian politics and the country’s path to peace after a film screening of “Pray the Devil Back to Hell,” a true account of unsung heroes of Liberia – women who banded together to fight for peace in a country embroiled in decades of civil war and dictatorship.

The film showcases successful non-violent demonstrations that influenced the exile of Liberian dictator Charles Taylor and the election of the country’s first female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The film, which won the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival award for best documentary feature, is presented as part of the “Peace in the Desert” speaker series at Boyd School of Law’s Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution.

WHEN: Friday, Nov. 6, 2009, at 6:30 p.m. (While the event is free and open to the public, guests should arrive early, as seating is limited).

WHERE: Greenspun Hall Auditorium at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

DETAILS: After the film, UNLV women’s studies and political science professors will join Amos Sawyer in a panel discussion. Sawyer is a public policy scholar for the Woodrow Wilson Center and a research scholar in Indiana University’s workshop in political theory and policy analysis. For more information, please call the Boyd School of Law at (702) 895-2318, or visit http://www.law.unlv.edu/saltman_Events.html

About the Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution
The Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution was established in 2003 at the William S. Boyd School of Law in order to provide a venue for advanced study of the nature of conflict and the methods through which conflicts may be resolved. U.S. News & World Report’s 2010 edition of America’s Best Graduate Schools ranked UNLV’s Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution ninth as having the best dispute resolution program.

The work of the Center encompasses conflicts arising out of regional, national, and international concerns, and involving both the public and private sectors. Recognizing that a sophisticated understanding of conflict necessarily requires insights derived from disciplines other than law, the Center places particular emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and resolving disputes.

-30-

UNLV is a doctoral-degree-granting institution of 28,000 students and 3,300 faculty and staff. Founded in 1957, the university offers more than 220 undergraduate, master's and doctoral degree programs. UNLV is located on a 332-acre campus in dynamic Southern Nevada and is classified in the category of Research Universities (high research activity) by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.