Harvard students will have a chance to soak in some words of wisdom from a major international power broker on Thursday.
The first in a series of historic visitors to Harvard this week, United Nations (U.N.) Secretary-General Kofi Annan will address students this Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in Sanders Theatre.
South African President Nelson Mandela will receive an honorary degree from the University on Friday.
Annan plans to speak about the appropriate political responses to increasing globalization.
Annan originally planned to speak last November, but an impending showdown between Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the U.N. forced him to cancel.
"One of the difficulties about being U.N. Secretary-General is that your schedule changes daily," said University spokesperson Alex Hupp‚.
Annan's speech, "The Politics of Globalization," is sponsored by the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies.
"Globalization is a big and very wordy topic, but I think that he'll define it [more clearly]," said Weatherhead University Professor Samuel P. Huntington, director of the academy.
University Marshall Richard M. Hunt stressed the fact that students should not miss the opportunity to attend Annan's speech.
"I hope undergraduates will realize this is one of the rare moments to meet one of the world's leaders."
Hunt also emphasized the strength of Annan's brief two-year tenure in the U.N.
"He's proven to be one of the best effective leaders in the U.N. in the last 15 to 20 years. There are not much negatives about this extraordinary human being," Hunt said.
Annan's visit comes one day before a historic visit from Mandela.
"It's really cool that we're getting [Annan] and Mandela on consecutive days.... It's a really good way to kick off the year," said Darryl Li '01, executive board member of the Woodbridge Society of International Students.
Organizers of the Annan event are equally excited about the two visits.
"I don't recollect anything quite like this," Huntington said.
The Secretary-General will attend several events on campus prior to his speech.
In the morning, he will meet with fellows from the Center of International Affairs.
Annan will also visit the W.E.B. Du Annan's last stop before the speech will be ameeting with members of the Harvard Foundation. The Harvard Academy for International and AreaStudies was created in 1986 to train scholars inthe languages, cultures, history and institutionsof major non-Western societies
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