New Dramatists presents

A Discussion with Dr. Benjamin R. Barber, author of Jihad vs McWorld

moderated by Gabrielle Schafer of Thieves Theater

Wednesday, Nov 28 7:00 PM

New Dramatists 424 West 44th, NYC

Space is limited

Reservations Required: (212) 757-6960

On Monday, September 25, about 75 playwrights gathered at New Dramatists to
share thoughts about the events of September 11. Although we were only able to
scratch the surface, many found the community forum to be a helpful means of
grappling with the scope of the tragedy and a good jumping-off point for
further conversation and action. Following the discussion, there was a
strong desire to gain a greater understanding of the political, historical
and economic circumstances surrounding the current events. On October 18th, New Dramatists in association with Fifthstreet Theatre invited Professor John D. Steinbruner, a leading expert in the field of U.S. foreign policy and arms control to speak about issues related to global security.

For this, the second in the New Dramatists series, Thieves Theatre, with the Rat Conference, has invited distinguished political theorist, novelist and dramatist Benjamin R. Barber, author of Strong Democracy, The Truth of Power: Intellectual Affairs in the Clinton White House, and the international best seller Jihad vs. McWorld. Dr. Barber accepted the invitation happy to return to New Dramatists to which he belonged in the 70s when he was writing and directing for the theater with Kevin OConnor, John Duffy, Lyn Austin, Ellen Stewart and others.

The evening will focus on the preconditions for terrorism that manifested into our current crises and will address issues of participation in the second civic/cultural front of the "war." Following Dr. Barber's lecture, a question and answer session and an informal discussion will be moderated by Gabriele Schafer, co-artistic director of Thieves Theatre and founding member of the Rat Conference.

For more information on The Democracy Collaborative, please see attached.

For a version of Jihad Vs. McWorld published in The Atlantic Monthly go to:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/foreign/barber f.htm
For more inforation on the Rat Conference go to http://www.ratconference.com.

BIOGRAPHY

Benjamin R. Barber is the Gresham and Carol Kist Professor of Civil Society at the University of Maryland and a principal of the Democracy Collaborative, with offices in New York, Washington and the University of Maryland. Dr. Barber brings an abiding concern for democracy and citizenship to issues of politics, culture and education in America and abroad. He consults regularly with political and civic leaders in the United States and Europe, including former President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Senator Bill Bradley, and President Roman Herzog of Germany; as well as with institutions such as the Corporation for National Service, the United States Information Agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities; and in Europe, UNESCO, the European Parliament, the Swedish Parliamentary Commission on Democracy and "Mission 2000" (the French Millennial Commission). Benjamin Barber's 15 books include the classic Strong Democracy (1984) , the novel Marriage Voices (1981) and the recent international best-seller Jihad vs. McWorld (1995, translated into ten languages). His collected American essays, A Passion for Democracy, were published by Princeton University Press in 1999, and his new book The Truth of Power: Intellectual Affairs in the Clinton White House was published this year by W.W. Norton & Company. Barber's honors include Guggenheim, Fulbright, and Social Science Research Fellowships, an honorary doctorate from Grinnell College, the Berlin Prize of the American Academy of Berlin (2001) and the chair of American Civilization at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes in Paris. In 2001 he received the Palmes Academiques (Chevalier) from the French Government. He writes frequently for Harper's Magazine, the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Nation, Le Nouvel Observateur, Die Zeit, and many other scholarly and popular publications in America and Europe. He was a founding editor and for ten years editor-in-chief of the distinguished international quarterly Political Theory. He holds a certificate from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an M.A. and Doctorate from Harvard University. For television, Barber co-wrote with Patrick Watson the prize-winning CBS/PBS ten-part series The Struggle for Democracy (1998, re-released in 2000) and the companion book; he also contributed to the Channel Four (U.K.) series Greek Fire, as well as to the American series The American Promise, and other educational documentaries. His work for the theater includes the libretto for George Quincey's opera Home and the River (produced in New York), the performance piece Kaspar (produced at Cafe La Mama in New York) created with his wife, the choreographer and performer Leah Kreutzer, and other dramatic musical works off-Broadway and in regional theaters. Barber is chairman and chief strategic vision officer of Bodies Electric, a democracy software company co-founded with Dr. Beth Noveck and Peter Dolch. Bodies Electric has developed deliberative chat software, including
PnyzUnchat[TM]."