Trent University Presents Fourth Annual David Morrison Lecture in International Development Featuring Dr. Raj Patel

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Award-winning writer, activist and academic to deliver free public lecture on ‘Modern Schemes to Feed the World” October 4

Monday, October 3, 2011, Peterborough

Best-selling author, activist and academic, Dr. Raj Patel will deliver the fourth annual David Morrison Lecture in International Development on Tuesday, October 4 at 7:30 p.m. at Market Hall, 140 Charlotte Street, third floor, Peterborough.

In his talk entitled, “The Long Green Evolution,” Professor Patel, currently a visiting scholar at the University of California – Berkeley, who also has an affiliation to the University of KwaZulu-Natal, will discuss modern schemes to feed the world and the impact that the world’s current food distribution has on the ever-growing population.

“My wife Alena and I are delighted to welcome Raj Patel to Trent and Peterborough,” said Dr. David Morrison, professor emeritus at Trent. “His cutting-edge and critical analysis of global food systems has been widely acclaimed, and his bestselling books, Stuffed and Starved and The Value of Nothing have reached well beyond academic audiences. We are excited about bringing Raj to Market Hall in downtown Peterborough.”

Prof. Patel has earned degrees from the University of Oxford, the London School of Economics and Cornell University and has worked for World Bank and the World Trade Organization, but has also protested against them around the world. He is a fellow at the Institute for Food and Development Policy and an advisor to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. In addition to numerous scholarly publications, he regularly writes for The Guardian, and has contributed to the LA Times, NYTimes.com, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Mail on Sunday, and The Observer. His first book was the highly influential Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System and his latest, The Value of Nothing, is a New York Times best-seller.

The David Morrison Lecture in International Development aims to bring globally distinguished scholars that are renowned for the impact that their intellectual and applied work has had on international development studies to Trent University to address members of the Trent and Peterborough communities. The lecture focuses on areas that are important to Dr. David Morrison’s own critical contributions to the field of international development studies, most notably approaches to reducing poverty and inequality and achieving sustainable livelihoods in ways that promote social justice and respect the human and biophysical environment.

This event is free and open to the public. A reception, book sale and signing by Dr. Patel will follow the lecture at Market Hall.

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For more information, please contact: Joanne Sokolowski, manager, Convocation and University Functions, 705-872-2215, joannesokolow@trentu.ca