The public is invited to the upcoming presentation by SBU 2008 Dignity of Life Week Speaker, Dr. Michael Maniates, professor of political science and environmental science at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa.
Maniates will discuss “The Politics of Sacrifice in an Ecologically Full World” in a lecture at 7 p.m. April 7 in Dresser Auditorium of the John J. Murphy Professional Building.
In addition to teaching classes on the politics of Third World “development,” the domestic and international politics of environmental governance, energy futures, and the dynamics of social change, Maniates studies and writes about global patterns of consumption, overconsumption, and consumerism; low consumption/high prosperity paths to development; underexplored routes of citizen involvement in contemporary environmental struggles; and joyful learning and teaching in the liberal arts.
He holds a bachelor’s degree (Phi Beta Kappa) in conservation and resource studies, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in energy and resources, all from the University of California at Berkeley.
He was a Fulbright scholar to India, a recipient of the Sprout Award for the best book in international environmental politics (with Tom Princen and Ken Conca) for “Confronting Consumption” (MIT Press 2002), and academic dean of the spring 2007 ’round-the-world sailing of Semester at Sea. In 2000, Allegheny College surprised Maniates with the Thoburn Teaching Award for Innovation and Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
His best known publications include “Environmental Studies: The Sky is Not Falling,” published in BioScience; “Individualization: Plant a Tree, Ride A Bike, Save the World” and “In Search of Consumptive Resistance: The Voluntary Simplicity Movement” in Confronting Consumption (MIT Press 2002), which he also co-edited; and “Of Knowledge and Power” in his edited volume Encountering Global Environmental Politics (Rowman & Littlefield 2003).
His current work focuses on climate change, citizen action, and sacrifice. He and his wife, Kathy Greely (who directs the Commonwealth Community Energy Project), live in Meadville with their two teen-age daughters.
Maniates’ visit is sponsored by the Journey Project, Clare College and SBU for Life at St. Bonaventure and Pfeiffer Nature Center in Portville.
Other Dignity of Life Week events sponsored by SBU for Life include:
- Presentation of the movie “Lake of Fire,” 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 8 (a location is still to be determined).
- Talk and discussion with Buffalo News reporter Lou Michel, “Timothy McVeigh and the Death Penalty,” 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, Dresser Auditorium C of the John J. Murphy Professional Building. Michel, father of two current Bona’s students, is a co-author of “American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing.”
- Dignity of Life Prayer Service, 8 p.m. Thursday, April 10, in the University Chapel, Doyle Hall.