McMaster School for Advancing Humanity
holds Annual Symposium March 30-31

DEFIANCE, Ohio –  Defiance College’s McMaster School for Advancing Humanity will hold its seventh annual Symposium on March 30 and 31 on the DC campus. The theme will be “The Question of Individual Liberties as Critical to Improving the Human Condition.”

Two keynote speakers are on the agenda as well as numerous learning community presentations and individual project presentations. All presentations are free and open to the public.

Yuri Maltsev

Keynote speaker Dr. Yuri Maltsev is a professor of economics at Carthage College in Wisconsin. He will speak on Wednesday, March 30, at 7 p.m. in Schomburg Auditorium.

Before coming to the United States in 1989, he lived in Russia and was a member of a senior Soviet economics team that worked on President Gorbachev’s reforms package of perestroika. Once in the U.S., Professor Maltsev became a Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., a federal research agency. His work involved briefing members of Congress and senior officials at the executive branch on issues of national security and foreign economic assessment.

Dr. Maltsev earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees at Moscow State University, and his Ph.D. in Labor Economics at the Institute of Labor Research in Moscow. He has appeared on CNN, Financial Network News, PBS Newshour, C-SPAN, Fox News, CBC, and other American, Canadian, and European television and radio programs. He has authored five books and hundreds of articles in U.S. and foreign publications.

Additional presentations will be given on Wednesday in Schomburg Auditorium by the McMaster School’s learning communities of Cambodia; Belize, San Mateo; Belize, Rio Bravo; New Orleans and Ghana. Poster presentations by honor students on a variety of topics will take place in the Serrick Campus Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Amer Ahmed

Keynote speaker Amer Ahmed will present on Thursday, March 31, at 7 p.m. in Schomburg Auditorium. He is an associate director in the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs at the University of Michigan.

As a spoken word poet, hip hop activist, intercultural diversity consultant and college administrator, Professor Ahmed channels his diverse experiences into work geared towards effective change serving to create mutual benefit for all. Born in Springfield, Ohio, to Indian Muslim immigrants, he has dedicated his life to engaging and facilitating diversity across human difference. His studies in anthropology and black studies have been enhanced by powerful study abroad experiences in South Africa and Nepal, and his education, world experiences, and Indian-Muslim-American upbringing help him understand the need for respect and dignity of all people.

Professor Ahmed strives to be an inspiration to young people who see purpose in pursuing their ideals. He stresses the need to identify one’s own talents, abilities in order to reach positions in which he or she can enact what he calls “realistic idealism.” Today, his work continues to prove that the hip hop generation has an opportunity to shape its own future though passionate energy and a dedication to create effective positive change.

Additional presentations scheduled in the Serrick Campus Center on Thursday include a presentation on embracing diversity; open discussion with keynote speaker Yuri Maltsev; a Cambodia Constitutional Conversation; an overview of Project 701; the Backpack Buddies project; a discussion by Steve Smith on the political voice of graffiti; BGSU associate professor of economics Dr. Kevin Quinn discussing liberties; and an open forum with keynote speaker Amer Ahmed.

For more information about the symposium and a schedule, go to http://www.defiance.edu/pages/MS_symposium_agenda2011.html.

Defiance College’s McMaster School for Advancing Humanity is the sponsor of the McMaster Symposium.

Defiance College, chartered in 1850, is an independent, liberal arts institution in Northwest Ohio offering more than 40 undergraduate programs of study as well as graduate programs in education and business. Defiance College has received national recognition for its educational experience of service and engagement. The college website is www.defiance.edu.

March 17, 2011