Professor Fassin will speak in English about two ground-breaking laws recently passed  in France:  the PACS (Civil Solidarity Pact), which permits two people of  different or the same gender to organize their common life and which can be regarded as an official recognition of homosexual couples, and la  parité, which mandates equal representation of male and female candidates on electoral lists for certain elections.

Professor Fassin is the author of the forthcoming book, _Same Sex, Different Politics: Comparative Politics of 'Gay Marriage,’ as well as numerous articles on contemporary American affairs.  He is a frequent commentator in the French press on French and American issues.

The lecture is sponsored by The Department of French, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Department of Political Science, Department of Sociology, and the Women’s Studies Program.

For information, contact Willa Z. Silverman at wzs1@psu.edu or (814) 865-1492.

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