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Lecture to compare ancient globalism with current issues

By John Andert '10
April 22, 2008

The St. Olaf College Society of Ancient History will host a lecture titled "Globalism from the Ancient Macedonian Perspective" presented by Carol Thomas professor of history at the University of Washington. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place Thursday, April 24, at 7 p.m. in Holland Hall 501. The lecture is part of the college's ongoing Global Citizenship focus.

Thomas' lecture will look at the global situation from the early fifth century BCE into the Hellenistic Age, and she'll show how the commonalities and processes parallel contemporary global issues. "Even if you aren't interested in early Macedonia, people with an interest in recent globalism may value this presentation," she says.

"In my recent study of early Macedonia I detected elements of cooperation between individual states and peoples based on more than the military might of one of those states/peoples," explains Thomas. "Shared language and ethnicity, economic and political ways of life and religion combine with concern about threats from others who do not share those commonalities to begin a process that is generally defined as a recent phenomenon."

In 2006 St. Olaf began a two-year commitment to reflecting on the theme of Global Citizenship through a series of lectures and events. The focus of the theme's final semester is "Civic Engagement and the Liberal Arts," through which the college community is asked to consider the public purpose of a liberal arts education.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.