Global Georgia 2015: Loung Ung

The Willson Center for Humanities and Arts' Global Georgia Initiative brings author and human rights activist Loung Ung to campus for a public lecture on Thursday January 29 at 4 p.m. in the Larry Walker Room on the 4th floor of the Rusk Center. Her lecture is titled, "First They Killed My Father,"

Loung Ung was only 5 years old when the Khmer Rouge soldiers stormed into her native city of Phnom Penh. Four years later, in one of the bloodiest episodes of the 20th century, some two million Cambodians – out of a population of seven million – had died at the hands of the infamous Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge regime. Among the victims were both Loung’s parents, two sisters, and 20 other relatives. In 1980, Loung and her older brother Meng escaped to the United States.

Loung’s memoir, First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers, published in 2000, became a national bestseller and received the Asian/Pacific American Librarians’ Association award for “Excellence in Adult Non-fiction Literature” in 2001. In 2013, she contributed as a writer to the film Girl Rising, directed by Academy Award nominee Richard Robbins as a writer, which explored the stories of nine girls from nine different countries suffering under human rights violations and the role of education in bringing positive change.

Recognized as one of the 100 Global Youth Leaders of Tomorrow, Ung's message of activism and peace is a welcome one on this campus - and in this country. Congratulations to the Willson Center on kicking off yet another great year of bringing distinguished guests to campus for important public events.

Image: Loung Ung.