It's that time of year again: time for Saint Louis University to go global- time for ATLAS Week.
In its fifth year, the annual event-seven days of panel discussions, lectures and cultural entertainment designed to "increase the awareness of our University community to the global issues," according to the ATLAS Web site-remains the best reason SLU students have ever had to skip their classes for a solid week.
And this year's ATLAS schedule, which begins tomorrow and runs through April 8, is the most ambitious to date.
"I think things are coming together," said Michelle Lorenzini, Ph.D., of the political science department, who is spearheading ATLAS planning this year. "I'm losing my mind, as always this time of year. It's a little bit overwhelming for me. We've never had this many events."
Nearly 50 events, including lectures on global politics and social justice, foreign films and two side conferences, speckle the calendar.
Timothy Lomperis, Ph.D., of the political science department and David Crossley, Ph.D., of the earth and atmospheric sciences department, are even offering a lecture next Wednesday afternoon entitled, "A Martian Odyssey to the High Frontier: Spawning the Planetary Lift-Off Generation."
The week's keynote lecture will be delivered by Oscar Arias Sanchez, Ph.D., the former president of Costa Rica.
Arias was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for initiating a peace plan that helped quell regional strife in Central America.
Arias is also credited with engineering the "truth and reconciliation" diplomatic model, which leaders in South Africa and the Balkans have adopted to mend communities torn apart by ethnic crimes and warfare.
SLU also plans to award Arias with the Sword of Ignatius Loyola next Thursday, April 7, after he delivers his keynote address, "A Compass and a Dream: Forging the Path to Peace."
This year's ATLAS Week will also feature some homegrown leaders: students who have traveled abroad and returned to share their experiences.
Four student panels- double the usual number- are slated for next week.
Colette Hellenkamp is one of three students who will speak next Tuesday about her experience in El Salvador.
"We're going to talk about the different experiences we had and things we learned, and how [the trip] has affected our perspectives of social justice, and how it has broadened our perspectives of the world," Hellenkamp said.
"I hope people will walk away with a little better of an understanding of what life is like in El Salvador," she added, "because [the people we encountered] don't necessarily have the opportunity to share their stories."
Where Hellenkamp made sure to note that she and her fellow panelists were not experts on their subject, merely witnesses, ATLAS Week promises to offer no shortage of professional thinkers.
Professors will be lecturing on a wide variety of topics-from HIV/AIDS in Africa, to dentistry in other countries, to globalizations-that they have not only studied but experienced personally.
Ellen Carnaghan, Ph.D., of the political science department, will join Daniel Schlafly, Ph.D., of the history department, and Peter Lah, S.J., of the communication department, in discussing "Political Change in Central and Easter Europe and Eurasia."
Carnaghan said she plans to discuss Ukraine's recent Orange Revolution-in which public protests persuaded the government to hold a second election-as an example of a unique form of political change that might be gaining popularity in former Soviet states as well as Middle Eastern countries like Lebanon.
"It remains a relatively unsettled region," Carnaghan said, noting that she planned to talk about conditions in which popular, peaceful forms of political change would work as well as ones in which governments might still use force to repress them.
Whether they will help students understand today's most prominent headlines or cultivate a better understanding of foreign cultures, this year's ATLAS Week should offer something for everyone.
For a full listing of events, descriptions, times and places, visit atlas.slu.edu.
