Lecture Preview
Title: “China’s Genocide: Organ Harvesting on Live Falun Gong Practitioners”
The Basics: Four keynote speakers will address China’s unethical means of extracting organs from prisoners, termed “China’s New Genocide.” In China, practitioners of the spiritual group Falun Gong endure live organ harvesting in which their organs are extracted and put on the market while the victims are still alive. The speakers will recommend ways for the transplant community, the government, and the general public to take action to stop the current practice.
The event is sponsored by the Office of Student Affairs, Student Senate, and a variety of student organizations from Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh.
When: Today at 5:30 p.m.
Where: McConomy Auditorium
Title: “Poverty, Growth, and the Future of Democracy in Latin America”
The Basics: Alejandro Toledo, former president of Peru, will speak via teleconference about the economic and political future of Latin America.
Toledo was in office from 2001 to 2006. During that time, Toledo’s main goal was to improve the quality of health and education in an effort to alleviate poverty. As a result, poverty decreased 25 percent and the Peruvian economy grew at an average of 6 percent.
Toledo also initiated the creation of the free trade agreement (TLC) with the United States to remove trade barriers between the two countries.
The talk is sponsored by the International Relations program.
When: Today at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Posner Center Boardroom
Subject: Alison Bechdel
The Basics: Alison Bechdel, author of the syndicated comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, will speak about the comics industry as a countercultural institution. The strip, hailed as “one of the greatest hits of the 20th century” by the Utne Reader, has been printed in dozens of newspapers and translated into several languages since its inception in 1983. Bechdel also published a graphic coming-of-age memoir, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, in 2006.
The lecture is sponsored by AB Lectures.
When: Today at 7 p.m.
Where: Porter Hall 100
Title: “Web Search — From Information Retrieval to Microeconomic Modeling”
The Basics: Prabhakar Raghavan, head of research at Yahoo!, is this year’s Bruce Nelson Memorial Lecture speaker. Raghavan will discuss the evolution of Web searching from simplifying information retrieval to presenting a wealth of new opportunities that have profound effects on our changing marketplace.
The lecture is sponsored by the School of Computer Science.
When: Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Where: Wean Hall 7500
Subject: John Dellaverson
The Basics: John Dellaverson, senior vice president of Lions Gate Entertainment and a Pitt alumnus, will speak about his experiences of being a producer, executive, and entertainment attorney in the film industry. Most recently, Dellaverson served as executive producer of the films Diary of a Mad Black Woman and 2005’s In the Mix.
Dellaverson’s next project with Lions Gate is Kill Pitt, an upcoming television series filming in Pittsburgh.
The lecture is co-sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh film studies program in the School of Arts and Sciences, the Steeltown Entertainment Project, and Pitt in Hollywood.
When: Thursday at 5 p.m.
Where: Cathedral of Learning, Room 324, University of Pittsburgh campus