KINGSTON, R.I. –November 21, 2007 — A panel will explore China and the global economy at the University of Rhode Island Nov. 27 at 7:30 p.m. The presentation, free and open to the public, will be held in room 271 of the Chafee Social Science Center, 10 Chafee Road, Kingston. Arthur Mead, URI professor of economics, will serve as moderator.

The discussion is part of the URI Honors Colloquium, China Rising.

The semester-long series explores China’s dramatic transformation during the past three decades, a transformation that has returned that country to the leading role it has played throughout most of world history.

The three panelists, George Shuster, Satya Gabriel, and Ming Wan will approach the topic from different perspectives.

Shuster is the CEO and president of Cranston Print Works, the nation’s oldest textile manufacturing company. He is a Phi Betta Kappa graduate of Yale University and holds graduate degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale Law School. The Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce named him Rhode Island’s “Manufacturer of the Year” in 2000.

He serves as co-chair of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, an organization that seeks to educate political leaders and the public regarding trade issues. Shuster will speak on why the structure of trade relations between the U.S. and China has created an unsustainable trade deficit for this country.

Gabriel lived and taught in China and Vietnam and served as a consultant for the United Nations Development Programme in Belize. He currently teaches courses in corporate finance, comparative economic systems, China, and East Asian economies at Mount Holyoke College. He is the author of Chinese Capitalism and the Modernist Vision. Gabriel will discuss how we understand the growth and future policy directions of China in the context of Marxist theory.

Wan is a professor of Public and International Affairs at George Mason University. He is the author of Human Rights in Chinese Foreign Relations: Defining and Defending National Interests and Japan Between Asia and the West: Economic Power and Strategic Balance. His work is widely published in journals such as Asian Survey, Orbis, Pacific Affairs and International Studies Quarterly. Wan will comment on China’s rise as a real growth model, its sustainability, and implications.

Major sponsors of the colloquium are the Mark Ross ‘64 and Donna Ross Honors Colloquium Humanities Endowment, the Tom Silvia ’83 and Shannon Chandley ’83 Honors Colloquium Endowment, URI’s Honors Program, Office of the President, Office of the Provost, Confucius Institute at URI, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business Administration, College of Engineering, and the Division of University Advancement.

For further details on the colloquium, including an updated schedule, information on parking, and on how to support the series, go to www.uri.edu/hc or call Deborah Gardiner at 401-874-2381.