The Laramie Project’s Moises Kaufman is set to participate in not one but two events Oct. 20, as part of the Hate-Free Campus Initiative.

Kaufman joined with other members of the Tectonic Theater Project in writing The Laramie Project, about reaction to the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay man, outside Laramie, Wyo. The play debuted in 2000.

Now, just weeks after the nationwide premiere of The Laramie Project 10 Years Later, Kaufman is due at UC Davis to continue the discussion of the Shepard case and its impact, and the broader impact of hate crimes.

Kaufman is the son of Eastern European Holocaust survivors and grew up in overwhelmingly Catholic and adamantly heterosexual Caracas, Venezuela, as a yeshiva-trained Orthodox Jew. As a teenager, he was confused and terrified by his homosexuality, hiding from his own community.

With this background, and as co-author of The Laramie Projecvt, organizers of the Hate-Free Campus Initiative said Kaufman is well positioned to help the UC Davis community address recent incidents of hate and bias on the campus.

Here are details are on the Kaufman events:

• A Conversation with Moises Kaufman: The State of Hate Crimes and Identity — Noon-2 p.m. Oct. 20, Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. Free, with tickets not necessary. Bring your lunch, drinks provided.

• An Evening with Moises Kaufman: Theatre as Dialogue — With Kaufman discussing how he uses theatre to address and create dialogue around social, political and human issues. 7 p.m., Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center. Free, with tickets required. They can be redeemed without a handling fee at the Mondavi Center box office during regular business hours (noon-6 p.m. Monday-Friday) or online. ticketing. A processing fee will apply when reservations are made by telephone, at (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787.

Earlier coverage: “Campus intensifies efforts to stamp out hate” (Oct. 8, 2010)