Hamilton, NY — Lawrence Harrison, senior associate at Harvard University’s Academy for International and Area Studies, will give a lecture titled ‘Culture Matters: Why Some Countries and Ethnic Groups Do Better than Others’ at Colgate University on Tuesday, October 2 at 7:30 p.m. The lecture, sponsored by Colgate’s Center for Ethics and World Societies, is free and open to the public and will take place in Persson Auditorium, 27 Persson Hall.
Harrison is a leading proponent of the view that differences in cultural values significantly affect the differing rates of development among nations. An official of the U.S. Agency for International Development from 1962 to 1982, Harrison directed missions in five Latin American countries. He has written three books on the relationship between cultural values and human progress: Underdevelopment Is a State of Mind – The Latin American Case (1985), Who Prospers’ (1992), and The Pan-American Dream (1997). Each was written while he was affiliated with the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. He co-edited, with Samuel Huntington, Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress (2000). From 1984 to 1988 Harrison was vice president for international development at the National Cooperative Business Association in Washington and in 1991 and 1992 he was the U.S. representative on the Haiti crisis mission of the Organization of American States. His articles have appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Atlantic Monthly, National Interest, and Foreign Policy, among other publications.
Entering its fourth year, Colgate’s Center for Ethics and World Societies devotes each academic year to the exploration of a single theme of great urgency in the international realm. This year’s theme is Development: Progress, Modernization, and Well-being. A calendar listing the center’s activities can be obtained by visiting the Colgate University website (www.colgate.edu) and finding the center under ‘Academics,’ by writing to the center directly at Colgate University, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, NY — 13346, or by phoning 315-228-7807.
Colgate University, founded in 1819, is located in Hamilton, New York. A highly selective, independent, liberal arts college with 256 faculty members and 2,750 undergraduate men and women enrolled in programs that lead to the bachelor of arts, Colgate also offers a small graduate program. The university’s general education core curriculum embodies Colgate’s longstanding commitment to integrated learning. The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) recently designated Colgate as one of 16 Leadership Institutions that offer a national model for excellence in innovative education. Students currently enrolled at Colgate hail from 44 different states, 3 U.S. territories and 26 countries. Log on to www.colgate.edu to learn more about Colgate University.