URI Distinguished Scholar lecture to
discuss democracy in a global marketplace
KINGSTON, R.I.-- October 14, 1998 -- The 1998 University of Rhode Island
Foundation Distinguished Scholar lecture will explore the impact of the
global markets on democracy with Dr. Benjamin R. Barber, director of the
Walt Whitman Center for the Culture and Politics of Democracy and political
science professor at Rutgers University
Barber will discuss "Citizens or Consumers? Is Democracy Possible
in an Era of Global Markets?" on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 8 pm in Room
271 of the Chafee Social Science Center on the University's Kingston Campus.
The lecture is free and open to the public.
Benjamin R. Barber has combined a career as a distinguished scholar and
political theorist with a life of practical commitment to democratic civic
practices and the arts. Known internationally, Barber's work in the field
of modern political theory represents some of the most provocative and thoughtful
discussions on the national and global implications of political participation
and democracy.
Barber is an experienced educational and political consultant, public
speaker, fundraiser and administrator. As a scholar with a Ph.D. in government
from Harvard University, he has taught at the University of Pennsylvania,
Haverford College, Princeton University, the City University of New York,
Essex University (U.K.) and the Ecoles des Hautes Etudes en sciences sociales
in Paris. He has won Guggenheim, Fulbright, and American Council of Learned
Society fellowships and was awarded an honorary doctor of laws from Grinnell
College.
For the last decade, Barber has been director of the Walt Whitman Center
for the Culture and Politics of Democracy at Rutgers University, which oversees
eight programs that unite the theory and practice of democracy.
Barber was one of the originators of the movement to introduce service
learning as a part of the college curriculum. In his writings, he has provided
a theoretical framework for the implications of this effort in enhancing
the civic culture of the United States and implemented a program at Rutgers
which was recognized as a national model.
One of America's most prominent political theorists, Barber is seen as
a significant voice in the continuing debate about the nature and role of
democracy in the contemporary world. Among his many books are the classic
Strong Democracy and the two Princeton University Press editions of his
essays The Conquest of Politics and the forthcoming A Passion for Democracy,
as well as his recent critical hit JihadVersus McWorld. His new study of
civil society, A Place for Us: How to Make Society Civil and Democracy Strong,
appeared this year.
As a political advisor and consultant, he has counseled dozens of organizations
and agencies. He has also consulted with German President Roman Herzog,
the Mendes-France Center in Paris, the Political Academy in Vienna, and
is on the German Land of Baden-Wurttemburgís Citizenship Council.
He has drafted papers and lectured for the U.S. Information Agency and the
National Endowment for the Humanities, and counseled the Corporation for
National and Community Service. He also serves on the editorial boards of
many journals including the London Government and Opposition and was the
editor-in-chief for ten years of the prominent international journal Political
Theory.
Barber is also an experienced television and theatre writer/producer
and with Patrick Watson, he wrote and edited the prize-winning ten-part
PBS/CBS series The Struggle for Democracy. He contributed to the British
series Greek Fire and the Farmers' Insurance Corporation's prize-winning
PBS series The American Promise. He also wrote and produced with pacific
Street Films the educational video Schools for Sale. His plays have been
produced off-Broadway as well as at the Berkshire Theater Festival, Colorado
College and the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth.
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For More Information: Jhodi Redlich, 874-2116
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