Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, will be a conference keynote speaker at Oglethorpe University on Thursday, Nov. 16, as part of a two-day university-sponsored “Dialogue on the Death Penalty.”

Sister Helen will speak at 7:30 p.m. in the Conant Performing Arts Center at the university, 4484 Peachtree Road, N.E. Her lecture will conclude with an audience question and answer session and book signing. General admission is $7, $5 for students and seniors. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

A 1999 nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, Sister Helen is a prominent death penalty opponent who is actively involved both with inmates on Death Row and the families of murder victims. She is the author of “Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States” and “The Death of Innocence: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions.” She is the founder of “Survive,” a victims advocacy group in New Orleans.

On Friday, Nov. 17, Sister Helen will host a discussion with Atlanta-area high school students at 10 a.m. This event is by invitation only and for conference attendees.

“Dialogue on the Death Penalty” sessions begin Nov. 17 at 1 p.m. and include panels entitled “Moratorium in Georgia,” “Historical and Legal Perspectives on the Death Penalty,” “Arts and Activism,” “Seeking Justice” and “Youth Activism” and will feature noted Georgia attorneys, Oglethorpe faculty, members of the Atlanta arts community, family members affected by the death penalty, and student activists.

Following the conference Mike Farrell, Capt. B.J. Hunnicutt from “M*A*S*H” and co-chair of Human Rights Watch California, joins Hector Aristizábal, director of the Los Angeles Center for Theatre of the Oppressed, Del Hamilton and Faye Allen, founding artistic directors of 7 Stages, and professional actors in a staged reading of “The Exonerated” in Lupton Auditorium from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Registration for the conference is $25 and includes a wine and cheese reception and a ticket to the reading of “The Exonerated.” Visit

www.oglethorpe.edu (keyword: dialogue) for information on all conference events.