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Trent University will welcome His Excellency John Ralston Saul: Feb. 6 to speak on "The End of Globalization and the Return of the Nation State"

Trent University is pleased to welcome His Excellency John Ralston Saul to speak on "The End of Globalization and the Return of the Nation State" at Wenjack Theatre on February 6 at 3 p.m.

The event, which is free and open to the public, is being hosted by Trent University's Canadian Studies program, the Trent International Program, and the department of Political Studies.

Mr. Saul was recently named by Time Canada as one of the country's most important public intellectuals for his urgent defenses of democratic society and the public good.

His growing impact on political and economic thought in many countries was firmly established with his 1995 Massey Lectures. The resulting book, The Unconscious Civilization, won the 1996 Governor General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction and the Gordon Montador Award for the Best Canadian Non-Fiction Book on social issues (1996). It was the concluding book of a major philosophical trilogy, the first two volumes being Voltaire's Bastards - The Dictatorship of Reason in the West and The Doubter's Companion - A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense. In 2001, he drew his conclusions about this trilogy with a new volume: On Equilibrium.

He launched a national debate with his reinterpretation of the nature of Canada in Reflections of a Siamese Twin, (1997) for which he again won the Gordon Montador Award (1998).

Mr. Saul's five novels are The Birds of Prey (1977) and De si bons Américains (1994), both published first in French, and The Field Trilogy, which deals with the crisis of modern power and its clash with the individual. The last volume of this trilogy, The Paradise Eater, won the prestigious Italian Premio Letterario Internazionale. His books are translated into more than a dozen languages.

As well as participating in many activities of the Governor General, Mr. Saul also has a number of his own official initiatives which are designed to encourage national debate among Canadians of all ages on issues such as bilingual education and the future of Canadian democracy. He is Founder and Honorary Chair of Le Français pour l'Avenir / French for the Future and Chair of the Advisory Board of the LaFontaine-Baldwin Symposium.. Active in the cause of freedom of speech, he served as secretary, vice-president and president of the Canadian Centre of International PEN between 1987 and 1992. He is now its Patron.

Mr. Saul was born in Ottawa in 1947 to an officer in the Canadian army and his English war bride. He was educated in the public school systems of Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario before receiving an Honours B.A. at McGill University and a Ph.D. on the modernization of France at King's College, University of London. Mr. Saul is fluently bilingual.

Please note that, due to limited seating, admission will be allowed by ticket only. Tickets are FREE and will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis at::
- The Department of Political Studies, Susan Welsh, Champlain College G1
- The Department of Canadian Studies, Elsie Scott, Kerr House, Room 205, Traill College
- The Trent University Bookstore, c/o Barb Reeves
Once tickets for Wenjack Theatre have been distributed, a second set of tickets will be released for a simultaneous viewing by video feed in the Science Complex room 137.

Posted January 30, 2004

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Last Updated February 20, 2004