News Release

Ohio Wesleyan Speaker to Discuss Strategy for American Midwest
Richard Longworth to Explain How Region Can Renew Itself as a Force of Innovation, Competition

October 5, 2009

Richard Longworth

Photo courtesy of Richard Longworth

Longworth will outline how farming and industry in the Midwest have been adversely affected by global pressures and then recommend new and radical solutions during his presentation, “The American Midwest in the Age of Globalization,” at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 20 in the Benes Rooms of Ohio Wesleyan University’s Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave.

His presentation, part of the university’s 2009-2010 Sagan National Colloquium, is co-sponsored by the OWU departments of Economics and Journalism. The event, which is free and open to the public, also will be streamed live online, and archived afterward, at stream.owu.edu/broadcasts/lecturesEvents/091020_sagan.html.

Longworth is a senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a distinguished visiting scholar at DePaul University. An award-winning foreign correspondent and senior writer for the Chicago Tribune, he is the author of “Caught in the Middle: America’s Heartland in the Age of Globalization.”

According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “Longworth’s book should be of interest even to those who have never come closer to America’s heartland than to change planes at O’Hare. Almost any chapter of ‘Caught in the Middle’ could generate a book’s worth of debate anywhere in this country.”

Each year, the Sagan National Colloquium spotlights an issue of global significance. This year’s theme is “Renewing America for a Global Century: From Theory to Practice at Ohio Wesleyan University.” Additional 2009-2010 Sagan National Colloquium speakers include:

• 7:30 p.m. Oct. 22 – Andrew Revkin, environmental reporter for The New York Times, discussing “The Energy Quest” in the Benes Rooms of Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave.
• 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29 – Joshua Spero, associate professor of political science at Fitchburg State College, discussing “National and International Leadership through Service.” His presentation will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Ohio Wesleyan graduates Marija Ignjatovic, 2003, Dan Sharpe, 2006, and Lydia Spitalny, 2008, in the Benes Rooms of Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave. This lecture will be viewable live on the Internet, and archived afterward, at stream.owu.edu/broadcasts/lecturesEvents/091029_sagan.html.
• 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3 – Andrei Codrescu, the MacCurdy Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Louisiana State University, discussing “What is an Immigrant, What Makes an American?” in the Benes Rooms of Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave. This lecture will be viewable live on the Internet, and archived afterward, at stream.owu.edu/broadcasts/lecturesEvents/091103_sagan.html.
• 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10 – Bonnie Honig, the Sarah Rebecca Roland Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University and research professor at the American Bar Foundation, discussing “Walt Whitman and the (Im)possibility of Renewal” in the Benes Rooms of Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave.

For more information about Ohio Wesleyan’s 2009-2010 Sagan National Colloquium, visit snc.owu.edu.

Ohio Wesleyan University is an undergraduate liberal arts college that transforms the lives of its students through a combination of rigorous academics, mentoring relationships, and real-world experiences. Featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” the private university’s 1,850 students come from 45 states and 39 countries. Visit www.owu.edu for more information.