Global Influence of South Asia the Focus of 2010 Wooster Forum

Four prominent figures to speak during the annual fall series, titled "South Asian Perspectives"

WOOSTER, Ohio - The global influence of South Asia will be the primary topic of discussion at the 2010 Wooster Forum, which will be hosted by The College of Wooster this fall. Four prominent speakers will address a range of issues, from religion and politics to science and the environment. All four sessions will be held in McGaw Chapel (340 E. University St.) beginning at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

The annual series opens on Tuesday, Sept. 21, when Ali Eteraz, discusses his memoir Children of Dust, which details his coming of age in Islam as a resident of rural Pakistan, the American Bible Belt, and the modern Middle East. A graduate of Emory University, where he received high honors in philosophy, and Temple Law School, Eteraz was born in Lahore, Pakistan, and raised in the Dominican Republic, Pakistan, and United States. His memoir was the summer reading assignment for incoming first-year students.

Ashraf Ghani, chairman of the Institute for State Effectiveness (ISE), will present "Afghanistan: Owning the Present; Building the Future" at the second Forum event on Tuesday, Oct. 5. A former student at American University of Beirut, Ghani received his M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University. He served on the faculty of Kabul University (1973-77), UC-Berkeley (1983), and Johns Hopkins University (1983-1991). He has done research in Russia and spent a year as a Fulbright Scholar in Pakistan. A native of Afghanistan who held positions at the UN and World Bank, he served as an economic adviser to President Hamid Karzai and as the Chancellor of Kabul University. He also ran for President of Afghanistan against Karzai, but finished third in the voting.

Vandana Shiva, a physicist and environmentalist, will speak about "Sustainability in South Asia" on Wednesday, Oct. 13. Active in the Chipko Movement, a women's-based group committed to saving the forests of India, Shiva studied physics and received her Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario (Canada). She has been an advocate for sustainable agriculture with a focus on biodiversity and water preservation. In addition, she has argued that environmental problems need to be understood in a global context and that effective solutions must be integrated with issues addressing the empowerment of women and international development. Her publications include Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis (2008).

Eric Dinerstein, chief scientist and vice president of Conservation Science for the World Wildlife Fund, will conclude the series when he addresses "The Future of Conservation" on Tuesday, Oct. 26. He began his conservation work in 1975 as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal, where he conducted a census of the tiger population in the Karnali-Bardia Wildlife Reserve. The University of Washington awarded him an M.A. based upon his tiger research and a Ph.D. for research on fruit bats. In addition, he has engaged in research investigating strategies to protect tigers, elephants, and one-horned rhinos.

Additional information about the Wooster Forum is available by phone (330-263-2132) or e-mail.