David Skidmore, professor of politics and international relations at Drake University, will kick off spring programming for The Principal Financial Group Center for Global Citizenship (PFGCGC) with his lecture, “Thirst: China’s Water Crisis.” The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. in Meredith Hall, Room 101.
In addition to teaching in the department of politics and international relations at Drake, Skidmore is the director of PFGCGC and the director of Drake’s Nelson Institute for Diplomacy and International Affairs. During the 1996-1997 academic year Skidmore taught at the Johns Hopkins-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies in Nanjing, China. Later, Skidmore served as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Hong Kong, and most recently, traveled to Shanghai to teach a course for his alma mater, Rollins College, on the political economy of water in China.
His lecture will focus on the issues he discussed in his Shanghai course—the scarcity of water in northern China, water quality in the country, how the current situation has affected people, and how China’s government is addressing these problems.
Skidmore’s lecture is the first of several events throughout the spring semester sponsored by the PFGCGC. The center is committed to hosting events to educate students and the community on global topics.
Visit www.drake.edu/cgc/eventsandactivities/spring2014activities/ for more information and a list of all spring events for the center.