UCLA Center for the Study of Women

Caring, boldness, self-critique, integrity, humor. Over and over again, students, colleagues, and friends used these words to describe Sondra Hale at the “Gender, Art, and Social Movements in the Middle East and Global South” conference at UCLA on October 28th, which honored her upon the occasion of her retirement from full-time teaching.1 “she embodies theory and practice,” said Women’s Studies Ph.D. student Rana Sharif. Unlike some scholars, Hale has always viewed theory and practice, academics and activism, as inextricably connected and mutually informing, and the conference offerings themselves moved seamlessly between these two poles.