How to be a world citizen

What it means to be a citizen of the world in the 21st Century will be examined at a special lecture being opened to the general public at Southern Cross University on Thursday.

The lecture will be given by University Chancellor The Hon John Dowd AO QC, president, International Commission of Jurists Australia and president and Ambassador for Protection, ActionAid Australia (formerly Austcare).

The topic of Chancellor Dowd’s guest lecture is Australia in the Asia/Pacific: An Anomaly.

His lecture will focus on understanding Australia’s role in the world, but particularly in the Asia/Pacific.

He will also reflect on what it means, in his experience, to be a citizen of the world in the 21st Century – the challenges, the opportunities and the responsibilities of an active world citizen and draw on his wealth of experience as former NSW Attorney General, Justice of the Supreme Court of NSW, and humanitarian advocate.

Chancellor Dowd has travelled extensively in Asia and most parts of the world. With a particular interest in East Timor and the International Commission of Jurists, his talk will offer ways of understanding how living in the world requires specific cultural, social and legal sensitivity and skills.

In the wake of September 11, 2001, terrorism, natural disasters, human rights abuses, and the financial crisis, the idea of being a citizen of the world has perhaps never been so relevant, said Dr Baden Offord, Associate Professor in cultural studies, who has organised the lecture.

The Chancellor’s lecture is the first one that he has given in an undergraduate course since he became Chancellor almost eight years ago. The lecture relates to a core unit of study in the Bachelor of Arts degree, ‘Australia, Asia and the World’. The unit introduces students to the importance of understanding their place in the world of the 21st century.

The lecture is being held in the Whitebrook Theatre Y-205, on Thursday May 13, from 12pm-12.50pm.

Photo: Chancellor John Dowd who will give a guest lecture at Southern Cross University on Thursday.