International Author Dr. Rajmohan Gandhi to Speak at Saint Joseph's College
Friday, November 09, 2007
Author of a major new biography of his grandfather the Mahatma, Dr. Rajmohan Gandhi will visit Saint Joseph's College on Sunday, November 11 and speak to the SJC and Rensselaer communities about religious conflict in India. Beginning at 7 p.m. CST in the Shen Auditorium of the Rev. Charles Banet, C.PP.S. Core Education Center, the public is invited to attend Gandhi's presentation at no cost.
Research professor at the Centre for Policy Studies in New Delhi, India, and visiting professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Gandhi has written widely on the Indian independence movement and its leaders, India-Pakistani relations, human rights, and conflict resolution, having been greatly influenced by his paternal grandfather. In addition to The Good Boatman: A Portrait of Gandhi, Gandhi is the author of Ghaffar Khan: Nonviolent Badshah of the Pakhtuns; Revenge & Reconciliation: Understanding South Asian History; Patel: A Life, a biography of Vallabhbhai Patel, Deputy Prime Minister of India; and Eight Lives: A Study of the Hindu-Muslim Encounter.
Gandhi's visit to Saint Joseph's College is sponsored by the faculty of Core 7 (the College's general education component that deals specifically with the culture of India and China) and made possible by a grant from Lilly Endowment. Assistant Professor of History and Core 7 faculty member Susan Chattin is certain Gandhi's presence will be beneficial to education at Saint Joseph's.
"Having Dr. Gandhi on campus will not only enhance our knowledge of Indian history for Core 7, but will also address some of the most fundamental principles of the Core Program, such as human dignity, tolerance, human rights, and the role of religion in our lives," she said.
Gandhi led the Indian delegation to the UN Human Rights Commission in 1990 and is a former member of the Rajya Sabha – the upper house of the Indian Parliament. In 2002, he received the Sahitya Akademi (India's National Academy of Letters) Award for his biography of Chakravarti Rajagopalachari entitled Rajaji: A Life, detailing the life of the Governor General of India and leading figure in the nation's freedom movement. 2004 marked his receipt of the International Humanitarian Award from the City of Champaign (Illinois), and in 1997, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of law from the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, as well as an honorary doctorate of philosophy from Obirin University in Tokyo, Japan.
For more information regarding Gandhi's visit to SJC, contact Chattin at (219) 866-6392.
|
|
Print Page
Email to a Friend
RSS