In conjunction with Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai’s Sept. 19 Distinguished Speakers Series lecture, the Gender Institute is co-sponsoring a series of informal “book chats” featuring Malala’s 2013 autobiography, “I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban.”

The book chats, which will take place the week before Malala’s lecture, will be led by faculty and staff members in small group settings in the Student Union, the libraries and the residence halls. While most of the chats are designed for UB students, two will be open to faculty, staff and the general public.

Those open sessions are at noon on Sept. 13 in the Intercultural & Diversity Center, 240 Student Union, North Campus, facilitated by Carine Mardorossian, professor of English, and at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 14 in 310 Silverman Library, North Campus, facilitated by Barbara Bono, associate professor of English.

Book chat co-sponsors are Campus Living and Wellness Education Services

A champion since the age of 10 of the right for girls to receive an education, Malala first made headlines when she was shot by the Taliban in 2012 at the age of 15 while traveling home from school on the bus with her friends in Pakistan.

Now living with her family in Birmingham, England, she is internationally known for her courage in refusing to be silenced and continues to campaign for the right of every child to go to school.

Malala is the co-recipient with Kailash Satyarthi of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle against the suppression of children and young people and children’s educational rights. Aged 17 at the time, she was the youngest ever to receive the Nobel Prize.