March 17, 2008

Webster University Announces the 2008 E. Desmond Lee Visiting Professor in Global Awareness

Webster University’s College of Arts and Sciences announced Satish Kumar as the University’s 2008 E. Desmond Lee Visiting Professor in Global Awareness. Each year, Webster University awards the professorship to one outstanding professor from abroad to teach on topics of ethnicity, international economics, international relations, global diversity and related fields at the St. Louis campus for part of the year.

Indian-born Satish Kumar is a strong supporter of peace and ecology. He has spent time as a Jain monk, a nuclear disarmament advocate and has traveled the world on foot. His pilgrimages have taken him from India to America without any money, through deserts, mountains, storms and snow. Experiencing adventures and tribulations, Kumar has been thrown into jail in France, faced a loaded gun in America – and delivered packets of ‘peace tea’ to the leaders of the four nuclear powers. Currently residing in England, he is the editor and publisher of “Resurgence,” a magazine that publishes “articles on the cutting edge of current thinking, promoting creativity, ecology, spirituality and frugality.” Kumar is also the Director of Programme for Schumacher College, an international center for the study of ecological and spiritual values.  He has written several books including his autobiography, “No Destination, You Are, Therefore I Am-A Declaration of Dependence,” and “The Buddha and the Terrorist.” He also narrated and appeared in the BBC film “Earth Pilgrim.” Kumar is an expert on one’s spiritual connectivity to ecology and global citizenry and studies the roots and real solutions of global warming.

Kumar will host a number of lectures and is teaching a course from an international perspective during the spring semester. Kumar is also co-chair of the “Global Ecology: A Creative Opportunity to Design a Sustainable Future” Conference in St. Louis on Saturday, May 3.

Kumar is in residence now through the end of May at Webster University. Through Kumar’s class in St. Louis, students will explore global ecology through the integration of the environment, spiritual and social components. The E. Desmond Lee Visiting Professorship in Global Awareness was established in Fall 2000 by philanthropist E. Desmond Lee to help foster international understanding. The Professorship is sponsored by the Webster University College of Arts and Sciences.

To arrange an interview with Satish Kumar, contact Krissi Timmerman at 314-968-7456 or timmerman93@webster.edu.

For more information on Satish Kumar visit http://www.resurgence.org/satish/index.htm

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Founded as a small liberal arts college in 1915, Webster University now serves more than 21,000 students worldwide from its headquarters campus in St. Louis. Webster unites more than 100 centers in the United States, Europe and Asia into a single, cohesive community of academics, professionals, and students.