Arjun Appadurai, a professor in the department of social sciences of New York's The New School, spoke at the University Tuesday as part of the religious studies department 2007-2008 Aronov Lecture.
Steven Ramey, a professor in the religious studies department, said he was extremely delighted by Appadurai's appearance. He said he hoped Appadurai's different perspective would broaden UA's sense of global community.
"Appadurai's work deals with the broader sense of how issues relate to each other and how people involved are quite similar to us and are dealing with similar issues," Ramey said.
Samantha Young, a freshman majoring in biology and marine science, attended the lecture for an English 102 class.
"I just want to know what the lecture is about because it seemed interesting," Young said.
The lecture was titled "The Offending Part: Sacrifice and Ethnocide in the Era of Globalization." Appadurai introduced his theory of "political surgery" and its effects.
"The kind of torture and body mutilation exceeds the wildest hope of the planners and the worst nightmares of the victims," Appadurai said.
Appadurai spoke about violence, sacrifice and the effect each topic has on a nation and its people. He outlined why small groups are targeted for genocide and how genocide factors into globalization.
He cited the violence and amputation with Sierra Leone as evidence.
"In these cases, the horror we have to think about is that political surgery cases seem to be about inflicting maximum degradation without death," Appadurai said.
Michelle Azevedo, a graduate student in anthropology, attended the lecture.
"He is about connecting ideas and bringing a global perspective," Azevedo said.
Appadurai has served as an adviser or consultant to numerous international organizations, including UNESCO, the World Bank and the Ford Foundation.
He is the founder of a nonprofit organization in Mumbai, India, called PUKAR, or Partners for Urban Knowledge Action and Research, and is the founding co-editor of the academic journal Public Culture. He published a novel titled "Fear of Small Numbers" in 2006.
The Aronov lecture is the most prominent lecture of the year for the department of religious studies. It is designed to bring prominent international scholars to Alabama to introduce diverse elements of religious studies, Ramey said.
Ramey said the lecture is named for Aaron Aronov who was a supporter of the religious studies department. The lecture series was established in 2002.
This is Appadurai's first trip to the University.
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