Gotham Chopra to inaugurate
URI Global Issues Forum
KINGSTON, R.I. — March 4, 2003 — Gotham Chopra, international author on global issues and news anchor/reporter for Channel One, will be the speaker at the first annual Helen L. Spaulding Global Issues Lecture at the University of Rhode Island’s University Club on Thursday, March 20.
A reception will begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by a gourmet dinner at 6:30, and the lecture at 7:30. The event is open to the public, but reservations are required prior to the event.
Chopra is the son of Deepak Chopra, heralded by Time Magazine as one of the Top 100 Icons and Heroes of the Century as “the poet-prophet of alternative medicine.”
The younger Chopra is an anchor-reporter for Channel One News which covers world events for daily dissemination to more than eight million students in middle, junior and senior high schools throughout the U.S. Channel One’s 12 minute newscasts are beamed via satellite during the school year.
Gotham Chopra’s book Familiar Strangers: Uncommon Wisdom in Unlikely Places, published in 2002, will serve as the primary platform for the March 20 lecture. He will adapt the talk to discuss the war on terrorism, hope of lasting peace between India and Pakistan, and how his travels have shown that people around the globe are very much the same.
During the past two years, on behalf of Channel One, the 28-year-old Chopra has reported from Israel, the West Bank, Egypt, China, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Honduras, Mexico, Columbia, Russia, Chechnya, Iran, and more than 20 states. His interviewees include President George W. Bush and the Dalai Lama.
Traveling the world several times as a reporter, Chopra has spent time in war torn countries, on the front lines and in South American jungles. “I’ve ridden in Blackhawk helicopters above Colombian jungles and walked the frontlines in the war in Kashmir,” says Chopra. “There’s a real poignancy in meeting people who live amazing lives amidst so much conflict and struggle.”
Gotham Chopra’s first book Child of the Dawn, published in 1996, was translated into 13 languages. It tells the story of a boy growing up in India who has romantic notions about his country. More recently, he has been executive producer of the upcoming John Woo MGM Film, Bulletproof Monk and a lyrical advisor to singer Michael Jackson for the albums Dangerous and History.
Cost for the evening is $50 per person. Reservations can be made by calling the UClub weekdays at 874-2911.
The Helen Spaulding Global Issues Lecture is funded through an endowment established by Dr. Irving Spaulding, a URI professor emeritus, in honor of his late wife who was a tireless advocate of URI international students and programs to illuminate their experience here.
The University Club is situated on URI’s Kingston campus at 95 Upper College Road. The club has served friends, alumni and faculty of URI since 1969. Ample free parking is available at the rear of the facility and across the side street.