Jan. 15, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sister Mary Pat White
(805) 543-4105, Ext. 11

‘Human Face of Globalization’ To Be Topic of Feb. 3 Talk at Cal Poly

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- Marie Dennis, director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns and vice president of Pax Christi International, will speak on “The Human Face of Globalization” at 7 p.m. Feb. 3 in Chumash Auditorium in Cal Poly’s University Union.

She will talk abaout her experiences in the Third World and the many progressive self-help economic and cultural enterprises that are emerging there that often are overshadowed by the media’s focus on globalization, according to Sister Mary Pat White of the university’s Newman Catholic Center, sponsor of the event.

Come an hour early or stay an hour afterward, suggests White, for the Third World “Marketplace for Responsible Action,” which will feature businesses and organizations such as Global Exchange, Maryknoll International, Rain Forest Alliance, and Pax Christi, which all focus on Third World issues and concerns.

Dennis earned a master’s degree in moral theology from the Washington Theological Union and is the author of five books on spirituality, social justice, peace and the integrity of creation. Her books include “Francis and the Foolishness of God,” “The Spirituality of Romero” and “A Retreat With Oscar Romero and Dorothy Day.”

She is a laywoman, mother of six, grandmother, a secular Franciscan and a member of the Assisi Community in Washington, D.C.

She and her family lived on and worked a 65-acre organic farm for nine years and lived in an inner-city “intentional” community for 13 years. In the last 15 years she has been arrested numerous times for nonviolent acts of conscience relating to U.S. foreign policy.

Dennis has lectured at numerous universities, conferences, workshops, parishes and high schools over the past 30 years, on topics ranging from Catholic social teaching to jubilee, from globalization to peacemaking, and from economic justice to Latin America.

For more information, call White at 543-4105, ext.11.
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