April 16, 2002
Contact: George Yatchisin
(805) 893-3494
e-mail: yatchisin-g@sa.ucsb.edu
Author and filmmaker Michael Tobias in residence at UCSB as Regents’ Lecturer in the Environmental Studies Program
Summary Facts:
- Michael Tobias
- Activist for a sustainable future
- Author of more than 25 books, including A Day in the Life of India
- Writer/director/producer of more than 100 films, including the 10-hour miniseries Voice of the Planet
- Regents’ Lecturer in the UCSB Environmental Studies Program
- Two free public talks
- “Global Ecology and Non-Violence”
Thursday, May 16 / UCSB Lotte Lehmann Concert Hall / 4 pm - “Human Population and the Biosphere in the 21st Century”
Monday, May 20 / UCSB Corwin Pavilion / 4 pm - For information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at 893-3535
Activist for a sustainable future Michael Tobias, a Regents’ Lecturer in the UCSB Environmental Studies Program, will present two free public talks “Global Ecology and Non-Violence” on Thursday, May 16 at 4 pm in UCSB Lotte Lehmann Concert Hall and “Human Population and the Biosphere in the 21st Century” on Monday, May 20 in UCSB Corwin Pavilion at 4 pm. Through his large body of work Tobias has been a tireless advocate for animal rights and sensible development.
Tobias is the author of more than 25 books and the writer/director/producer of more than 100 films. His books include A Day in the Life of India, World War III, A Vision of Nature, Deep Ecology and Nature’s Keepers—On the Front Lines of the Fight to Save Wildlife in America. His films include the ten-hour Turner Broadcasting miniseries, Voice of the Planet, which he adapted from his own book and which was narrated by William Shatner and Faye Dunaway. Tobias will screen one of his films at each lecture. On Thursday, May 16 he will present Ahimsa—Non-Violence (1987, 56 min.), a powerful film that explores the central tenet of Jainism which is ahimsa, or non-violence, and its implications in everyday life. On Monday, May 20 he will present World War III (1995, 50 min.), a film that documents the warlike impact that the explosive growth in human population is having on our world and its ecosystems.
Tobias is a former professor of Environmental Affairs and the Humanities at Dartmouth College. He earned his Ph.D. in the History of Consciousness from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has lived in India on and off for 25 years, and helped co-found a major film studio in Mumbai devoted to socially conscious film production and programming.
In a 1998 interview Tobias asserted: “Sustainability, ultimately, refers to the ecology of conscience. Because if your heart is in the right place, then every choice you make, and every new problem you tackle will be pursued with an orientation that is ethical, that is egalitarian, that is pre-meditated with the best goals in mind for the most number of individuals of all species. We must lose all moral hierarchies. Try to live, even for a day, on an equal footing with the bugs, the birds, the lizards, and your worst enemy. It is possible. If for a day, then why not for a lifetime?”
Tobias’ public talks are presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures. His residency at UCSB is made possible by the Regents’ Lectureship program of the University of California. Instituted in 1962 to encourage rare and invaluable interaction between gifted non-academics and the university community, the program has continued to provide campus residencies in sponsoring departments for people with distinguished achievement in the arts, sciences, humanities, business, politics and international affairs.
Courtesy of the UCSB Bookstore, copies of Michael Tobias’ books will be available for purchase and signing after the May 16 event only.
For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.
Editor: For photos, please call
George Yatchisin at (805) 893-3494.