News Release

Each year, the undergraduates behind the Foreign Affairs Symposium bring influential, distinguished and high-powered individuals from the world of politics, academia and the media to The Johns Hopkins University's Homewood campus, 3400 N. Charles St., in Baltimore.

The first lecture and book-signing in the series will be given by Jeffrey Sachs, professor of economics at Columbia University, at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 20, in Shriver Hall Auditorium. He will discuss solutions to poverty in underdeveloped nations. Sachs is leader of the United Nations Millennium Project and wrote the book "The End of Poverty." He is well-known for his groundbreaking work and his association with other activists like Bono, Bob Geldof and Angelina Jolie. His book will be sold a week in advance of the event at Barnes & Noble Johns Hopkins at the corner of St. Paul and 33rd streets. This event and all others in the series are free and open to the public. E-mail fas@jhu.edu for information. The group s Web site is www.jhu.edu/fas/.

The theme for the 2007 symposium is "Ideologies in Flux: Examining Divergent Political Strains in Geopolitics." The students say each event will be a study of movements and power shifts, political and economic, that are changing the face of the world. Their goal is to examine the continuously changing world in an attempt to educate their peers at Johns Hopkins and the community at large.

Other events this spring include:

Tuesday, March 27, 8 p.m., Levering Union Glass Pavilion. Lecture followed by a book signing: Rajiv Chandrasekaran, assistant managing editor at The Washington Post, will be talking about the current situation in Iraq. He is a former Washington Post Baghdad bureau chief and author of New York Times bestselling book "Imperial Life in the Emerald City." His bio is online at www.rajivc.com/author.htm. His book will be sold a week in advance of the event at Barnes & Noble Johns Hopkins at the corner of St. Paul and 33rd streets.

Thursday, April 5, 8 p.m., Levering Union Glass Pavilion. A panel discussion on Asian security, featuring experts on China, South Korea, and Japan discussing the political situation in the region, with a focus on North Korea.

Tuesday, April 10, 8 p.m. Mudd Hall 26. A panel discussion on the rise of socialism in Latin America, with a focus on Hugo Chavez and Bolivarian movements. The panel will include a diplomat from Venezuela and a representative from the U.S. State Department.

Tuesday, April 17, 8 p.m., Levering Union Glass Pavilion. Lecture followed by a book signing: Azar Nafisi, professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., will discuss international relations and human rights with a focus on Iran and the Muslim world. Nafisi is the author of the bestseller "Reading Lolita in Tehran." Her book will be sold a week in advance of the event at Barnes & Nobles Johns Hopkins at the corner of St. Paul and 33rd streets. Her bio is online at apps.sais- jhu.edu/faculty_bios/faculty_bio1.php?ID=67.

Wednesday, April 25, 8 p.m. Levering Union Glass Pavilion. A panel discussion on Wal-Mart as a case study of American corporate globalization. The panelists will focus on the entrance of Wal-Mart in foreign markets such as India and China and its effects on those markets. The panel will include a representative from Wal-Mart's international affairs office and Charles Fishman, author of bestselling book "The Wal-Mart Effect." Fishman will be signing his book after the event. The book will be sold a week in advance of the event at Barnes & Noble Johns Hopkins at the corner of St. Paul and 33rd streets.

Monday, April 30, 6 p.m. Mukhtar Mai, founder of the Mukhtar Mai Women Welfare Organization in Pakistan, will discuss women s rights in Pakistan and her personal journey from victim to activist. Her bio is online at www.mukhtarmaiwwo.org/story.html.