September 13, 2011

by Cathryn Westra

Ethan Zuckerman

Davidson College's Bank of America Lecture Series begins Tuesday evening, Sept. 13, with a talk about the Internet's impact on society. The theme of this year's three-part series is "Global Voices: Media's Effect on the Way We Connect." Harvard University Senior Researcher Ethan Zuckerman will initiate the discussion in a talk about how the media impacts the way individuals relate to each other. Zuckerman is also co-founder of Global Voices, an international blogging community that translates content from 30 languages and publishes works in 20 languages.

The talk will begin at 7 p.m. in the Alvarez College Union Smith 900 Room and there is no charge to attend. For more information call 704-894-2440.

The Bank of America Lecture Series is organized by Davidson's Dean Rusk International Studies Program. Chris Alexander, Director of the Dean Rusk Program and Professor of Political Science, noted the relevance of this year's lecture series theme. He said, "In modern-day society, media relations is a topic that impacts everyone. This year's lecture series will look at three relationships impacted by media-person-to-person, person-to-government and government-to-government."

Zuckerman's talk will cover the media's impact on person-to-person relationships. Eleanor Beardsley, a Paris-based National Public Radio correspondent, will present the series's second talk on Wednesday, Nov. 16, concerning media's impact on how individuals relate to their government. Navy Admiral William Fallon will present the third series lecture on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012, focusing on media's impact on government-to-government relations.

Alexander said the lecture series was designed to promote conversation about current global issues as they relate to our daily lives. He noted that this year's theme is also timely in light of current events in the Arab world, where governments have limited access to internet services to discourage political activism.

The Bank of America Lecture Series was created in the mid-1980s with a contribution from former Bank of American CEO and Chairman, Hugh McColl. The gift from this North Carolina native, philanthropist and education advocate has provided a platform for students and community members to discuss important contemporary issues.

Previous speakers in the Bank of America Lecture Series include Duke Energy CEO James Rogers and CNN correspondent Fareed Zakaria. Past lecture series themes have included U.S.-China relations, environmental sustainability, and the global energy challenge.

Davidson is a highly selective independent liberal arts college for 1,900 students located 20 minutes north of Charlotte in Davidson, N.C. Since its establishment in 1837 by Presbyterians, the college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently regarded as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. Through The Davidson Trust, the college became the first liberal arts institution in the nation to replace loans with grants in all financial aid packages, giving all students the opportunity to graduate debt-free. Davidson competes in NCAA athletics at the Division I level, and a longstanding Honor Code is central to student life at the college.