Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Israeli legislator Natan Sharansky will deliver public lectures at Vanderbilt University March 17-18 as part of the university’s annual Impact Symposium.
The theme of this year’s lectures is “Diplomacy in the New Millennium.” Albright will speak Tuesday, March 17, at 7 p.m. and Sharanksy will speak Wednesday, March 18, at 7 p.m. Both lectures will be held at Vanderbilt’s Langford Auditorium. A book signing will precede each lecture from 6 to 6:45 p.m. in the Langford Auditorium lobby.
Tickets for the event will be available beginning Monday, Feb. 9. General public tickets are $10 at Sarratt box office or any Ticketmaster outlet. Tickets may also be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 615-255-9600.
Tickets to the lectures are free to Vanderbilt students, faculty and staff. Only one free ticket may be picked up with a Vanderbilt identification card at the university’s Sarratt Student Center box office.
Non-Vanderbilt students with their college or university identification cards may purchase tickets for $5 at the Sarratt box office or any Ticketmaster outlet.
Albright, who served as secretary of state from 1997 to 2001, will speak about geopolitics and the current implications of global commerce. She is the former president of the Center for National Policy and teaches at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She is chairperson of the Women, Faith and Development Alliance and the author of three books – a best-selling memoir, Madam Secretary; The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God and World Affairs, and Memo to the President-Elect: How We Can Restore America’s Reputation and Leadership.
Sharansky, a former member of Israel’s legislature, The Knesset, and a recipient of the Congressional Medal of
Freedom will speak about the spread of democracy and struggles for human rights. From 1996 to 2005, he served in the role of Israeli government minister for several areas – industry and trade, internal affairs, housing and construction and Jerusalem affairs. During this time, he also served as deputy prime minister.
Born in the Ukraine, Sharansky graduated from the Physical Technical Institute in Moscow with a degree in computer science. While in Moscow, he became active in the human rights movement led by Soviet dissident Andrei Sahkharov and became internationally known as the spokesperson for the Helsinki movement, what is today the oldest functioning human rights organization in Russia. Sharansky later immigrated to Israel after nine years of imprisonment for allegedly collaborating with the CIA.
His 1988 memoir, Fear No Evil, has been translated into nine languages. His latest book, Defending Identity, Its Indispensable Role in Protecting Democracy, was released in June 2008. He is also the author of The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Freedom and Terror.
This year’s Impact Symposium continues a long-standing tradition at Vanderbilt. Impact, one of the oldest university lecture series of its caliber in the nation, began in 1964 when a group of Vanderbilt students saw the need to increase the campus’s exposure to current issues by providing a symposium in which intellectually challenging – and sometimes controversial – speakers could be heard.
In 1968, the series passed a milestone when Robert Kennedy drew a record attendance of 16,000 people from more than 100 college delegations across the United States. Over the years, successive Impact programs have brought speakers such as George McGovern, Robert McNamara, Jesse Jackson, former presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to campus. Last year’s event featured retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, religious scholar Reza Aslan and women’s rights advocate Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
For more information about Impact, call the Office of Student Campus Events at 615-322-2471.
Media Contact: Princine Lewis, (615) 322-NEWS
princine.lewis@vanderbilt.edu