AIDS Advocate Stephen Lewis Will Initiate Bank of America Lecture Series

Stephen Lewis, co-founder and co-director of the international advocacy organization "AIDS-Free World," will give a talk at Davidson College on "The Millennium Development Goals and Public Health Challenges" on Wednesday evening, Oct. 30. Lewis' talk will begin at 7 p.m. in the Alvarez College Union Smith 900 Room, and there is no charge to attend.

Lewis is the first of two speakers this fall in the Dean Rusk International Studies Program's Bank of America Lecture Series. Both will discuss topics relating to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which include combating extreme poverty and providing universal primary education.

Lewis has worked toward one of these goals by founding "Aids-Free World," an international advocacy organization that promotes more effective responses to HIV/AIDS. The organization focuses on issues and groups that have been pushed to the margins of societies by AIDS.

Lewis is the former UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, and was Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations from 1984-1988. He has been a prominent figure in Canadian politics and international humanitarianism, and in 2005 was named by TIME magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

The Bank of America Lecture Series will also feature Paul Ladd, head of the United Nations development program's team for post-2015 development policy. He will give a talk on Tuesday evening, November 9, at 7 p.m. in the Alvarez College Union Smith 900 Room. Ladd has previously led UNDP's policy team on inclusive globalization, and has worked as a policy advisor on international development for the UK treasury.

OTHER SPEAKERS HOSTED BY DEAN RUSK

The Dean Rusk International Studies Program will also host three other speakers this fall, who will discuss topics ranging from Islamic studies to international journalism.

• Walter Russell Mead, editor-at-large of The American Interest and professor of foreign affairs and humanities at Bard College, will discuss "American Grand Strategy: It's Simpler Than You Think" on Monday, Oct. 28. The talk begins at 8:30 p.m. in the Alvarez College Union Smith 900 Room and is free to attend.
• Seyyed Hossein Nasr, professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University, will speak on Thursday, Nov. 24. His talk begins at 7 p.m. in the Alvarez College Union Smith 900 Room, and there is no charge to attend.
• Yochi Dreazen, a senior writer for Foreign Policy, contributing editor at The Atlantic and former national security correspondent for National Journal, will give a talk on Sunday, Nov. 17. It will begin at 7 p.m. in the Lilly Family Gallery of Chambers Building, and there is no charge to attend.

For more information regarding the Fall 2013 Bank of America Lecture series or any of the Dean Rusk speakers, call (704) 894-2170.