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Contact: Bruce Conley
Associate Director of College Relations
Phone: (605) 274-5526
Fax: (605) 274-4903
www.augie.edu
March 6, 2007
SIOUX FALLS – Dr. Thomas Walker, an expert on Latin American politics and history, will be on Augustana’s campus for five days presenting at the 19th annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum and giving numerous lectures.
Dr. Walker is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Director Emeritus of Latin American Studies at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. His Peace Prize Forum presentations are scheduled for 9:00 and 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 10, in Madsen Center room 257. He will also be speaking at 6:00 p.m. Monday, March 12, in Madsen Center room 101, and on Tuesday, March 13, at 7:00 p.m. in Madsen Center room 202.
Dr. Walker teaches courses on The Government and Politics of Latin America, Revolution in Latin America, and Latin American Political Thought. His experience led to an invitation to participate in the Carter Center teams that supervised recent national elections in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Among the topics he will discuss is the evolving role, techniques, and importance of international electoral observation in Latin America from 1984 to the present.
In addition to his presentations at Augustana, Dr. Walker is also speaking at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, March 11, at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 2001 S. Elmwood, in Sioux Falls. His presentation at the church’s Adult Forum is entitled, One Academic’s Professional Journey Through Four Decades of Nicaraguan History.
Dr. Walker’s first visited Nicaragua in 1967 to conduct research for his master’s thesis. Though his doctoral dissertation research in Brazil in the early 1970s was supposed to launch him on a career as an expert on that country, the revolution in Nicaragua later that decade abruptly drew him back to the study of that republic.
His Peace Prize Forum presentation is entitled, International Electoral Observation: A Tool for Democratization and Peace in Latin America.
In Dr. Walker’s opinion, United States behavior towards Latin America is not just occasionally mistaken, but in fact normally destructive and dysfunctional for the interests of both the United States and the countries involved.