NEWS RELEASE

Immediate:  October 18, 2017

Nassau Community College Cultural Program

Shakespeare Saved My Life — Author and Professor Laura Bates

November 14  

Garden City, NY — The Nassau Community College Cultural Program Shakespeare Saved My Life will take place on Tuesday, November 14, at 10:00 a.m. and again at 1:00 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of the College Center Building. During the program, author and professor Laura Bates will discuss how education can change lives and how the Bard of Avon can speak to contemporary readers in all sorts of circumstances — even in prison. Laura Bates teaches Shakespeare to prison inmates. For several years, she has focused on those in solitary-confinement lock-up (Secured Housing Unit, also known as "supermax"), the violent "worst of the worst." This is the first program of its kind in the world. Prof. Bates's work centers on critical thinking, interpretive analysis and creative writing. Shakespeare Saved My Life: Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard," her bestselling book, describes Prof. Bates's experience with Larry Newton, a convicted killer incarcerated since he was a juvenile, often in solitary confinement or on death row. Despite his grade school education, Newton takes naturally to Shakespeare and displays startling moments of empathy with the characters. Bates, a professor of English at Indiana State University, has a PhD from the University of Chicago. She has taught on campus and in prison for more than 20 years. For more information about Shakespeare Saved My Life, which is free, open to the public and accessible to the disabled, call 516.572.7148. Media Contact Alicia Steger 516.572.9634 alicia.steger@ncc.edu ncc.edu/newsreleases

Ref. 1984.10/18/17/150 About Nassau Community College Nassau Community College, part of The State University of New York, is an institution where almost 20,000 full- and part-time students and approximately 10,000 continuing and professional students start and continue their successful journey through higher education. More than 70 fields of study are offered on a 225-acre campus located in the center of Long Island. As the largest single-campus two-year college in New York State, Nassau Community College maintains a national reputation for excellence. Visit www.ncc.edu for more information.