Impact, Influence of Globalization Focus of Six-Part Lawrence University Lecture Series

APPLETON, WIS. -- The impact and influence of globalization on the media, the environment, business and even terrorism will be the focus of the six-part Lawrence University lecture series, "Debating Globalization: Politics, Economics and Culture" beginning Thursday, January 10.

All lectures in the two-month series will be held at 7 p.m. in Science Hall, Room 102 on the Lawrence campus and are free and open to the public.

Peter Copeland, editor and general manager of the Washington, D.C.-based Scripps Howard News Service, kicks off the series on Jan. 10 with the address "Globalization of Media and Entertainment."

A journalist with more than 20 years experience, Copeland will examine the ways media, including the Internet, continue to shrink the size of the world by providing more information with ever-increasing immediacy. Copeland will discuss ways the media can distort reality and force policy decisions as well as examining how the world's definition of globalization of media and entertainment simply means more U.S. influence on their children.

Copeland, a 1979 graduate of Lawrence with a degree in government, joined Scripps Howard in 1982 after working as a reporter in Chicago. He spent five years in Mexico City as a Latin America correspondent before joining the Washington bureau, where he covered the Justice Department and the Pentagon as well as reporting from countries around the world.

As editor and general manager, Copeland oversees both the Scripps Howard News Service and the Scripps-McClatchy Western Service, which provides more than 150 stories and photos daily to more than 400 newspapers and 30 websites.

Copeland was featured in the PBS Frontline series "Standoff in Mexico" about voter fraud in that country and has written four books, including "She Went to War: The Rhonda Cornum Story." His most recent, 1998's "Living with our Genes," explores the crucial link between genetics and human behavior.

Copeland was awarded Lawrence's Nathan R. Pusey Award in 1995 for "outstanding achievement by an alumnus."

Other lecturers and their addresses scheduled in the series include:

Jan. 17 -- George Meyer, former secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, "Government-Business Environmental Cooperation for the Advancement of Business Competitiveness in a Globalizing Age."

Jan. 21 -- Michael Doyle, Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, "The UN Global Compact: Developing Social Foundations for Globalization."

Jan. 22 -- Robert Gilpin, former Eisenhower Professor of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, "Globalization and Its Discontents."

Feb. 5 -- Donald Niemi, former manager of Caterpillar Logistics Services, "Business View of Globalization."

Feb. 27 -- John Esposito, director of Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, "The U.S., Global Terrorism and Islam."

The "Debating Globalization: Politics, Economics and Culture" lecture series is sponsored by the Mojmir Povolny Lectureship in International Studies. Named in honor of former Lawrence government professor Mojmir Povolny, the lectureship promotes interest and discussion on issues of moral significance and ethical dimensions.