Globalization is bound to take center stage as we journey deeper into the 21st century. Professor Marc Blecher will highlight this point in a lecture titled "When Wal-Mart Wimped Out: Globalization and Unionization in China." Blecher is a professor of politics and east asian studies at Oberlin College. His current research interests include workers' politics in contemporary China and the political economy of urban space in small Chinese cities. (4:15 p.m., Thur., New York Room, Mary Woolley Hall, Mt. Holyoke College. Admission is free of charge.)
Dr. Robert H. Brown Jr. '69, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, and director of the Day Neuromuscular Laboratory Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, will give a talk titled "How Did Lou Gehrig Die? A Medical Journey from the Bedside to the Bench and Back." Dr. Brown has committed his life to fighting neuromuscular diseases. He established The Day Laboratory for Neuromuscular Research, which is now an internationally recognized center for neuromuscular research, in 1984. (7:30 p.m., Thur., Cole Assembly Room, Converse Hall. Admission is free of charge).
Mark Orlowski, Founding Director of the Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI), will conduct a program titled, "Amherst & the College Sustainability Report Card." SEI is based in Cambridge, Mass., and was founded in 2005 to research the sustainability of endowments in higher education. It has reviewed campus and endowment policies at a number of leading institutions. (4:30 p.m., Wed., Friedmann Room, Keefe Campus Center. Admission is free of charge.)