Great Decisions Lectures to Address 'Money, Morals, and Might'

Four-part series to be hosted by The College of Wooster in February

WOOSTER, Ohio - The Great Decisions lecture series will return to its traditional format with four speakers addressing the topic of "Money, Morals, and Might" in February. Hosted by The College of Wooster, the lectures will be held in Gault Recital Hall of Scheide Music Center (525 E. University St.). The sessions begin at 7:30 p.m. and each one is free and open to the public.

"The world in which we live today is different in many ways from what it was just a few generations ago," said John Rudisill, assistant professor of philosophy and executive director of the Great Decisions program. "People in all nations are more vulnerable, and vulnerable in new ways, to events and practices over which they have little control. Our speakers will look at that vulnerability and suggest ways in which to minimize it."

The series begins on Tuesday, Feb. 2, when David M. Lampton, Dean of the Faculty and Director of China Studies at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), presents "China Looks at the World; the World Looks at China." Lampton was the founding director of the China Policy Program at the American Enterprise Institute as well as the Chinese Studies Program at the Nixon Center. He also is the Senior International Advisor on China for Akin Group, a major international law firm. He has been interviewed by Lou Dobbs, Charlie Rose, Jim Lehrer, Bill O'Reilly, and others, and his articles have appeared in The New York Times, Time magazine, and elsewhere. He is the author of The Three Faces of Chinese Power: Might, Money, and Minds, and co-author of Same Bed, Different Dreams: Managing U.S.-Chinese Relations 1989-2000.

Matthew Bishop, American Business Editor and New York Bureau Chief for The Economist, will address "The Road from Ruin: How to Renew Capitalism and put America back on Top" on Thursday, Feb. 11. Bishop has served on the faculty of the London Business School and has co-authored several books, including Philanthrocapitalism, which looks at the business of philanthropy, and Economics A to Z, which serves as a layperson's guide to economics. His latest co-authored book shares the title of his Great Decisions Lecture and will be available on Jan. 26. Bishop has served as a member of the Sykes Commission on the investment system in the 21st Century, and was on the Advisors Group of the United Nations International Year of Microcredit 2005. His honors include being selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Reza Aslan, assistant professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside, and a native Shi'a Muslim from Iran, will discuss "God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror," on Tuesday, Feb. 16. Aslan is a regular commentator for American Public Media's Marketplace, and serves as the chief Middle East analyst for CBS News. His books include No God but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, which has been translated into 13 languages, and How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror. He has been a Fellow in Fiction at the Iowa Writers Workshop, and has written articles for such publications as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and The Washington Post. He has also appeared on such programs as "Nightline," "Meet the Press," and "Anderson Cooper 360."

Noreena Hertz, Distinguished Fellow at the Centre of International Business and Management at the University of Cambridge's Judge Business School, will close out the series on Monday, Feb. 22, with "Rethinking a Post-Crisis World: Globalization, Sustainability, and the Future of Capitalism." Hertz is the author of the 2001 bestseller, The Silent Takeover: Global Capitalism and the Death of Democracy, which argued that unregulated markets, corporate greed, and high-powered financial institutions would have serious global consequences. Her most recent book, The Debt Threat: How Debt is Destroying the Developing World, looks at the root causes of third-world debt, poverty, terrorism, war, and the fallout from collapsing states. Highly regarded for her expertise in political economics, Hertz was chosen as one of the most powerful women in Britain by Harper's Bazaar in 2008.

The Great Decisions of Wayne County lecture series is a joint venture between The College of Wooster and the local Wooster community. It began in 1981 and has run annually since that year. The primary purpose of the series is to bring to the region experts (from a variety of backgrounds) on various issues pertaining to foreign policy and international affairs.

Additional information is available by contacting John Rudisill via e-mail.