Center on Religion and Culture Hosts Unsung Heroes Forum Tonight in Pope

Ashley Tedesco, blog editor

The Fordham Center on Religion and Culture, in conjunction with the Opus Prize Foundation, are presenting “Globalization and the Ecology of Caring: Untold Stories, Unsung Heroes” tonight in Pope Auditorium from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. It’s a free event and will be open to the public. The description given in the invitation is as follows:

In struggles against poverty, disease or disaster, nothing can replace hands-on caring by families, neighbors and aid workers. Yet that caring can be dramatically affected by decisions made in far-away places—by government, corporate and NGO officers, among others.

Fred de Sam Lazaro reports regularly for the PBS Newshour and Religion and Ethics Newsweekly on grass-roots efforts to improve the lives of the world’s poor. Using clips from his work, he and expert panelists will reflect on what happens when the local meets the global.

The forum is part of a two-day event at Fordham University celebrating the awarding of the Opus Prize, which is given annually by the Opus Prize Foundation to honor unsung heroes who demonstrate an entrepreneurial spirit and a strong faith commitment while addressing critical world issues.

Join us as we focus on the untold stories and unsung heroes, and explore the unresolved quandaries of caring in an interconnected world.

The discussion will be moderated by William F. Baker, the Claudio Aquaviva Chair and Journalist in Residence at Fordham and president emeritus of Channel Thirteen/WNET. Speaking will be journalist and filmmaker Fred de Sam Lazaro, who directed the Project for Under-Told Stories at St. John’s University in Minnesota, and panelists include Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, and Lawrence MacDonald, a vice president of the Center for Global Development, both non-profit organizations dedicated to the eradication of poverty.

If you’re interested in attending, RSVP to crcevent@fordham.edu or get more information at the Center on Religion and Culture’s Web site.