MEDIA CONTACT: Wendy Leopold at 847-491-4890 or w-leopold@northwestern.edu

November 7, 2005

Lecture to Focus on Africa: Why It Matters, Why We Should Care

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Former New York Times bureau chief for West and Central Africa Howard W. French will discuss “The Forgotten World” of Africa Monday, Nov. 15, at Northwestern University.

French will deliver “The Forgotten World: Why Africa Matters, Why We Should Care, Why We May Hope” at 7 p.m. in the McCormick Tribune Center, 1870 Campus Drive, on Northwestern’s Evanston campus. The event is free and open to the public.

French, who today is the Times’ Shanghai bureau chief, is author of the recently published and widely acclaimed “A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa.” He first moved to Africa with his family, where his father worked for the World Health Organization in Ivory Coast.

Over 25 years, French’s experiences on the continent awakened him to the harmful impact of Western imperialism and colonialism, the selfishness and shortsightedness of the rich, the great suffering of the poor and the urgent need for new strategies of international engagement with Africa.

In “A Continent for the Taking,” French gives an unstinting account of the disastrous consequences of the centuries-old encounter between Africa and the West.

French is expected to address the legacy of colonization in the lives of contemporary Africans, the tragedies of the AIDS epidemic, the Ebola outbreak and the genocide that resulted in the deaths of millions in Rwanda and the Congo. He also will touch on the role of the international media and what he calls its “insatiable market in images of horror.” His ideas on how hope can triumph over tragedy are eagerly awaited.

French’s presentation is sponsored by Northwestern’s Program of African Studies and Medill School of Journalism. For further information, call (847) 491-7323.