Bereuter to open free lecture series Sept. 14

The E.N Thompson Form on World Issues is poised to explore the ancient civilization and rising power of China.

The 2009-2010 season opens with former Nebraska Congressman Doug Bereuter’s Sept. 14 lecture “China’s Trade and Soft Power Relationships with Asia and the United States – Reason to Worry?” The lecture begins at 7 p.m. in the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

China presents some of the most complex questions facing the world today. Although China is home to one-fifth of the world’s population, most Americans know remarkably little about its culture, heritage and growing role in world events. China’s rise is one of the transformative events of our time, as well as one of the most important challenges facing U.S. foreign and economic policy. This year’s line-up of speakers will explore topics ranging from China in Cyberspace to China’s role in Africa and the impact of trade with China on U.S. workers.

Bereuter will open the season by presenting information partially based on his experience in Congress and his recent work as president and CEO of the Asia Foundation. In that role, Bereuter oversees an organization with 17 offices across Asia focused on improving civil society, women’s empowerment, economic reform and development, and international relations. Bereuter joined The Asia Foundation in 2004 following his resignation as congressman representing Nebraska’s first district, a position he held for 26 years. While in Congress, he co-founded the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and chaired a task force on the transition of Hong Kong and the House delegation to the 40-country NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

Other lecturers in the forum’s season are Kaiser Kuo, a technology expert and former writer for Time and TimeAsia; Susan Shirk, director of the University of California’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, and a professor at UC-San Diego’s Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies; investigative journalist Richard Behar; former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel; and Rob Gifford, National Public Radio correspondent.

All Thompson Forum lectures will be delivered in the Lied Center. They are free and open to the public, however all events are ticketed. Tickets are free and guarantee a reserved seat. Tickets for the fall-semester lectures are currently available by contacting the Lied Center at 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231. Tickets may also be picked up in person, or ordered by downloading a form from the Thompson Forum Web site. For many lectures, tickets are available at the door, but requesting tickets in advance is recommended. Tickets for spring-semester lectures will be available beginning Jan. 11.

Thompson Forum lectures will be available live on the Web (www.unl.edu), Lincoln TimeWarner Cable Channel 21, NETSAT 104, UNL campus Channel 8 and UNL’s KRNU radio (90.3 FM). Live satellite broadcasts and follow-up discussion will be available in Scottsbluff, North Platte, Kearney, Wayne, Columbus and Omaha.

For 21 years, the E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues has brought a diversity of opinions on international and public policy issues to UNL and the citizens of Nebraska, in order to promote understanding and to encourage debate. The forum does not endorse the views of the individual speakers, nor limit their freedom to express their points of view.

The Thompson Forum is a cooperative project of the Cooper Foundation, the Lied Center and UNL. In 1990, the series was named in honor of E.N. “Jack” Thompson (1913-2002,) a 1933 graduate of the University of Nebraska, who served as president of the Cooper Foundation from 1964 to 1990 and as its chairman from 1990 until his death.

Review the speaker list for the E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues
http://enthompson.unl.edu.