ACD Panama dicto conferencia en Connecticut College

Panamanian sociologist and activist to speak at Connecticut College on Saturday,

NEW LONDON, Conn. —Rubén González, co-founder of the Alliance for Conservation and Development (ACD) in Panama, will speak on “Environment and Culture in Times of Globalization: The Struggle for the Survival of the Naso People” in the Ernst Common Room, Blaustein Humanities Center, on Saturday, April 23, at 1:30 p.m. This lecture is free and open to the public.González will speak about the Naso-Teribe people and the Bonyic Hydroelectric Project of Panama, whose construction is proposed for the traditional lands of the Naso-Teribe people of western Panama. Faced with monumental environmental and cultural instability as a result of the project, they struggle for their voices to be heard in opposition.

The ACD has partnered with the Naso to advocate for a just and transparent process. Most recently, it has negotiated with the Inter-American Development Bank to suspend funding in order to delay the project.González is a Panamanian sociologist and activist who has devoted a large part of his life working for environmental and indigenous rights. Most his time has been spent in the field, working with communities to develop programs that promote social change.This lecture is sponsored by Connecticut College’s Goodwin-Niering Center for Conservation, Biology and Environmental Studies, its anthropology department, the Renewable Energy Club and the Earth Day Committee.

Ranked among the most selective private liberal arts colleges in the nation, Connecticut College enrolls 1,900 men and women from 46 states and 40 countries. The college is known for putting the liberal arts into action through interdisciplinary studies, international programs, funded internships, student-faculty research and service learning. Founded in 1911, the college operates under an 83-year-old honor code. The college is located at 270 Mohegan Ave, New London, about two hours by car from Boston and New York. The 750-acre campus is an arboretum overlooking Long Island Sound. For more information, visit www.connecticutcollege.edu.