The Center for
Global Peace and Conflict Studies
and the
International Studies Program

present
The 2003-2004 Social Science
Distinguished Speaker Series

featuring
Gara LaMarche
Vice President and Director of U. S. Programs for the Open Society Institute

UC Irvine is honored to host Gara LaMarche, Vice President and Director of U.S. Programs for the Open Society Institute, as a speaker in The 2003-2004 Social Science Distinguished Speaker Series.

The Open Society Institute (OSI) is based in New York City and is a private-operating and grant-making foundation established by philanthropist George Soros to promote open societies around the world.

Mr. LaMarche oversees the OSI’s programs in the United States dealing with a range of human rights issues including care of dying, drug policy reform, inner-city education and economic development, fair treatment of immigrants, crime and incarceration and democratic reform.

Before joining OSI in 1996, LaMarche served as Associate Director of Human Rights Watch and Director of its Free Expression Project. He has also served as Director of the Freedom-To-Write Program of PEN American Center, plus in a variety of positions with the American Civil Liberties Union, including Associate Director of its New York Branch, and Executive Director of the Texas Civil Liberties Union. He has authored more than 75 articles on human rights and social justice issues which have appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times; and he is editor of Speech and Equality: Do We Really Have to Choose? LaMarche is adjunct professor at NEW School University and has taught at the The John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The OSI serves as the hub of the Soros foundations network, a group of autonomous foundations and organizations in more than 50 countries. These organizations work to implement a range of initiatives to promote open societies by shaping government policy and supporting education, media, public health, and human and women’s rights as well as social, legal and economic reform.

Past lecturers in The Social Science Distinguished Speaker Series include Honorable Edward Royce and Gene Sperling, President Clinton’s National Economic Advisor. Mr. LaMarche’s lecture is sponsored by UCI’s Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies and the International Studies program. The Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies (CGPACS) is dedicated to research, teaching, and public service in the study of international conflict and conflict resolution.

For additional information please contact Rosemarie Swatez AT 949-824-2511.