Health, and Global Justice” at URI on Nov. 6
KINGSTON, R.I. — Oct. 29, 2001 — Environmental ethicist Laura Westra, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Windsor (Ontario), will address the question, “Are we unwitting accomplices to global eco-crimes?” as part of the University of Rhode Island fall Honors Colloquium.
Westra will speak on Tuesday, November 6 at 7 p.m. in Room 271 of the Chafee Social Science Center on URI’s Kingston Campus. Her lecture is entitled “Environment, Health, and Global Justice.” It is free and open to the public.
Funded by NATO and Canadian sources, Westra has led the Global Ecological Integrity Project since 1992, which has brought together leading scientists and thinkers from around the world to examine the combined problems of threatened and unequal human well-being, degradation of the planet, and unsustainable economies. Her book, Ecological Integrity: Integrating Environment, Conservation and Health, is a synthesis of the findings of the project.
Oxford University Professor Norman Myers said of the book, “Thus far we are exploiting our planet as if we have a spare planet parked out there in space to which we can move if we ever find we are over-doing things on this one. This book lays out eminently workable strategies for us to shift from our present track toward sustainable futures all around.”
Westra has taught at Auburn, Toledo, and Clemson universities, and recently held an endowed chair of environmental studies at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. She is pursuing a law degree at Osgoode Hall Law School. Her primary areas of study are ethics and ancient, Hellenistic, and medieval philosophy.
She is the founder and secretary of the International Society of Environmental Ethics and serves as a consultant for several organizations, including the World Health Organization. She earned her doctorate in philosophy from the University of Toronto.
Westra has published 14 books, 60 papers or chapters in books, and read more than 200 papers at conferences and meetings on four continents. Her books Just Integrity and Thinking About the Environment: Our Debt to the Ancient and Medieval Past are currently in press.
For more information about the many other events of the URI Honors Colloquium, visit www.uri.edu/sustainability, or call the Honors Program at 874-2303. The major sponsors of the colloquium are The Providence Journal and the Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities.
For Information: Todd McLeish 874-7892, Jennifer Smith 874-2116