Titled: #RapeCultureIsWhen.

This lecture was delivered in the Volstorff Ballroom in the University Student Union on Tuesday, September 25, 2018.

In 2014, Time published an article claiming rape culture doesn’t exist in twenty-first century America. Twitter exploded. Using the hashtag #RapeCultureIsWhen , a million people took to Twitter to testify to rape culture’s existence. Beyond simply verifying the existence of rape culture in the U.S., these provocative tweets demonstrated the need to thoughtfully analyze and discuss how social institutions and cultural practices normalize sexual violence in all its forms. Four years later, new hashtag activism such as #MeToo and #TimesUp have only increased this urgency. Dr. Garst-Santos argues that Miguel de Cervantes’s ambiguous representations of rape in Don Quijote can facilitate these conversations, challenging readers to examine our own beliefs about rape culture and sexual violence.