Law & Order: Special Victims Unit partners with NYU and AOL for seminar

By April MacIntyre Nov 15, 2010, 5:38 GMT

08/24/2010 - Ice-T and Coco -© Moises De Pena / PR Photos

The producers of Wolf Films/NBC series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” have partnered with NYU and AOL TV to screen a special episode of ‘SVU’ focusing on drinking and date rape on a college campus, which airs Wednesday, November 17, 9:00 ET/PT on NBC.

“SVU” creator and Executive Producer Dick Wolf and "SVU" star Ice-T will head a panel following the screening of the episode (titled "Gray") at AOL’s corporate headquarters in lower Manhattan.

MSNBC anchor Tamron Hall will moderate the panel/Q&A which also includes representatives from anti-sexual violence organizations RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) and the Joyful Heart Foundation (founded by series star and Emmy winner Mariska Hargitay).

“Sexual abuse on college campuses is unfortunately all too common. By the time a young women graduates from college, one out of four co-eds will have been raped or sexually assaulted,” said “SVU” Executive Producer, Neal Baer. “Alcohol use -- and abuse -- is often a factor in these assaults and colleges must address this problem on their campuses.”

Ted Magder, Associate Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication, and Director of the Center for Media and Culture at NYU, will host the evening with the Center for Communication.

"NYU Media, Culture, and Communication students study the ability of content producers to embed or explicitly address social issues within narratives, and our students consider the implications of the presence of those messages. The television medium is more than a carrier of entertainment content. The long-form, dramatic series format offers an opportunity to engage the audience in serious deliberation over personal and collective concerns. We are delighted to partner with “SVU” and to provide our students with the opportunity to hear from Dick Wolf, one of most talented producers of dramatic television in the U.S.”

Fans are invited to submit their questions for the panelists at $2 (Discussion tab), or tweet their questions to @WolfFilms, with the hashtag #1in4. After the episode, viewers can find excerpts from the panel and see their questions answered at $2 AOL TV will also have exclusive behind-the-scenes content, including interviews with actors, writers, producers and experts on their personal experiences with sexual abuse and filming this episode.