AMES, Iowa -- It may be hard to see how Iowa policies impact the world, but Des Moines Register columnist Rekha Basu reports that they do. And she plans to discuss how in a lecture at Iowa State University on Thursday, Sept. 17.
Basu's lecture, "Global Hopscotch: The Borderless World and the Search for Home," will take place at 8 p.m. in the Sun Room of ISU's Memorial Union. The free, public lecture is part of the Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities Series, "Iowa in the Global Community" -- an initiative providing a view of Iowa's place in the world.
Basu will explain how Iowa policies on human rights, immigration and environmental practices contribute to international decisions. She will also discuss impacts of cultural and ethnic identities.
"Our decisions and policies, many originating right here in Iowa, have an impact on people thousands of miles away," Basu said. "Whether it's the farm subsidies program, our policies on immigration or reproductive and human rights, or our environmental practices, we contribute to the condition and livelihoods of people around the world whose decisions, in turn, affect us in multiple ways."
Basu has been a columnist for The Des Moines Register since 1991. Her column, which focuses on racial and gender issues and culture trends, appears in the Register's opinion section three times a week and is syndicated by Gannett News Service.
She previously worked for newspapers in New York and Florida. Her work has been featured in USA Today, The New York Times, The Nation and the International Herald Tribune.
In 2008, Basu received the Des Moines Business Record's Women of Influence Award. She also has received the Iowa Interfaith Alliance Award and the Iowa Farmers Union Media Award.
In addition to the Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities, her lecture is also sponsored by the Committee on Lectures, which is funded by the Government of the Student Body.
For more information on lectures at ISU, visit http://www.lectures.iastate.edu or call (515) 294-9935.
