The Washington University in St. Louis School of Law is hosting a screening and discussion of the award-winning documentary Made In India at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom of Anheuser-Busch Hall.
The event is free and open to the public.
Made In India explores the practice of “outsourcing” surrogacy arrangements to countries in which poor women will agree to gestate pregnancies for intended parents from the U.S. and elsewhere for a much lower price than demanded on the domestic market.
The film, directed by Rebecca Haimowitz and Vaishali Sinha, raises powerful and provocative questions about the practice without taking a position.
After the screening, there will be a panel discussion with Haimowitz, Valerie S. Ratts, MD, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the School of Medicine, and Rebecca Wanzo, PhD, associate professor of women, gender, and sexuality studies in Arts & Sciences.
Susan Frelich Appleton, JD, the Lemma Barkeloo and Phoebe Couzins Professor of Law, will serve as discussion moderator.
On Thursday, Nov. 17, some screening attendees will participate in lunchtime discussion groups with law school faculty about questions raised by the film.
Liz Chen will be available after the film screening to give more details on the discussions.
The screening and luncheon are part of the series “Narratives of Law and Life: Using Film to Explore the State’s Role in Constructing Identity,” supported by a Diversity and Inclusion Grant awarded by the Office of the Provost at Washington University.
Made in India, the first film in the 2011-12 series, complicates the understanding of many different identities, including parental, gender, genetic, ethnic and national identities, while also showing how law and culture shape these understandings.
For more information, email Appleton at appleton@wulaw.wustl.edu.