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Prominent journalist from India to give public address

By Amy Gage
March 12, 2007

One of India's leading journalists will visit St. Olaf on March 12 and 13 to help students and Northfielders learn more about her country -- the world's largest democracy whose booming economy is bringing its 1.1 billion citizens both prosperity and problems, Western-style.

AugustineSeline
Augustine
Seline Damayanthi Augustine is chief sub editor of The Hindu, the largest English-language daily newspaper in India.

On Tuesday at 3:30 p.m., she will deliver a public lecture on "Contemporary Journalistic Issues in Pluralistic India." Her talk will be held in the Viking Theater of Buntrock Commons, and the Northfield community is invited to attend.

She also will address political science and English classes on gender and religious issues in her native land.

After leaving St. Olaf, Augustine will travel to Andrews University in Michigan where she will deliver a series of talks about being a prominent Christian journalist in a largely Hindu nation, where Christians represent only about 3 percent of the population.

A journalist for nearly three decades, Augustine has published articles in The Hindu on topics such as Christian missionaries in south India, women's empowerment in one of Asia's fastest-growing economies and the role of festivals as part of Indian culture.

She is a cousin of Dr. Gabriel Merigala, a dean at Madras Christian College in Chennai who is pursuing his post-doctoral work at St. Olaf as a Kierkegaard scholar. Augustine studied English literature at MCC and was a gold medalist at the University of Madras.

Her visit to St. Olaf is part of the two-year academic theme of Global Citizenship, according to Eric Lund, a professor of religion and director of International and Off-Campus Studies.

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