FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:Kristy Jackson Symposium Coordinator Phone: (319) 541-4067 Email: www.law.uiowa.edu/journals/grj/journal.php The Journal of Gender, Race & Justice Hosts Symposium on Welfare ReformFeaturing Keynote Address by Senator John Edwards on Poverty The Journal of Gender, Race, andJustice will host its 11th annual symposium on October 13-14, 2006 atthe University of Iowa College of Law's Boyd Law Building.  The 2006symposium, "One Act, Ten Years, Thousands of Families: Welfare Reform inContemporary America," will examine the effect of welfare reform onAmerican families.  Senator John Edwards will deliver the keynote address and will focus on all the issues relating to poverty onSaturday, October 14 at 1:00 p.m. in Levitt Auditorium in the Boyd LawBuilding. The symposium will feature scholars and activists from around thecountry who will discuss the successes and failures of the PersonalResponsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Responsibility_and_Work_Opportuni ty_Reconciliation_Act>  of 1996, which dramatically reformed the welfare system. The Act has been criticized for discouraging work and family;not providing states with enough flexibility, and for not achieving itsaim of reducing poverty.[1][1]  The symposium will run from 12 p.m. - 4p.m. on Friday, October 13 and 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. on Saturday,October 14.  For a detailed schedule of panels and speakers, please gotohttp://www.law.uiowa. edu/journals/grj/symp.php. Keynote speaker Senator John Edwards is the Director of the Center for Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Law.  Sen. Edwards served in the U.S. Senate from1998-2004 and ran for Vice President in 2004.  Sen. Edwards hasadvocated on behalf of the working poor during his twenty-year legalcareer, his tenure as a U.S. Senator, and on the vice presidentialcampaign trail. The Journal of Gender, Race & Justice is one of four student-runjournals in the College of Law.  The Journal began in 1995 and sincethat time, it has hosted ten symposiums discussing legal issues relatedto gender, race, or justice in modern America. "As this is the 10th anniversary of the 1996 Act reforming welfare, this year's symposium is especially timely," said Kristy Jackson, Symposium Coordinator.  "The Journal is truly excited to be presenting this kindof important discussion to the community." For more information, contact Kristy Jackson, Symposium Coordinator at Phone: (319) 541-4067 or. ________________________________ [1] See Urban Institute, An Analysis of the Issues, available at http://www.urban.org/publications/306620.html National Conference ofState Legislatures,http://www.ncsl. org/statefed/welfare/welfare.htm Andrew Cherlin, TheConsequences of Welfare Reform for Child Well-Being: What Have WeLearned So Far and What are the Policy Implications?, available athttp://www.jhu.edu/~welfare/.