Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts (IAC) and the School of History, Technology and Society (HTS) are holding an event celebrating the "Lotus Revolution" in parts of the Middle East. The keynote speaker is James Harkin.

Chaired by IAC Dean Jacqueline J. Royster, the presentation also includes Laura Bier, Assistant Professor, HTS.

James Harkin is a writer and social critic who writes regularly for the Guardian and the Financial Times and has also written for the London Review of Books and The Economist. Educated at St. Malachy's College Belfast, King's College London, and Hertford College Oxford, Harking was a lecturer in social and political theory and political economy at the University of Oxford. He is an analyst of global social, political and technological trends (or 'futurologist') and has worked at think-tanks including The Intelligence Factory in New York, and Demos in London, as well as other in continental Europe. He has also served as Director of Talks at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. 

Harkin was the associate producer of Adam Curtis's three-part series, "The Trap: What happened to our dream of freedom?," which aired on BBC2 in March 2007. His book based on his columns for the Guardian, Big Ideas: The Essential Guide To The Latest Thinking, was published in February 2008, and has been translated into Polish, Spanish and Korean. His new book is Cyburbia: The dangerous idea that's changing how we live and who we are.  Currently, he is researching a new book looking at the influence of game theory and cybernetics on contemporary Western politics and culture, and the relationships between them.