EVENT: Nuclear physicist and peace activist Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy will discuss "U.S. Nuclear Non-Proliferation Policy: India, Pakistan and Beyond" at an annual lecture organized by UC Irvine's Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies. Hoodbhoy is a member of the Pugwash Council, an international group of scholars and leaders concerned with reducing the danger of armed conflict, and he has been an outspoken opponent of the U.S.'s proposal that would allow nuclear technology, including fuel and reactors, to be sold to India. At his talk, Hoodbhoy also will address the current nuclear tension with Iran.

Free and open to the public. For more information, call (949) 824-6410 or visit http://www.socsci.uci.edu/gpacs/.

DATE: Friday, May 12, 2006
TIME: 6:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Social Science Lecture Hall 100, UCI campus

BACKGROUND: Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy is a physics professor at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, Pakistan. He is a recipient of the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the popularization of science. In addition to his scholarship, Hoodbhoy is involved in social issues such as nuclear disarmament, education, the environment and women's rights. Hoodbhoy is the author of Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality. He also co-produced the film Crossing the Lines: Kashmir, Pakistan, India, which will be screened on campus at 5 p.m. Thursday, May 11, in Social Science Plaza A, room 1100. The film explores the battles between the countries and how India and Pakistan's nuclear tests have escalated the conflict.

This is the 15th annual Margolis Lecture, which brings to UCI well-known figures who have contributed knowledge and activism to peace and conflict studies, focusing particularly on arms control issues.

The Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies in the School of Social Sciences is dedicated to promoting the understanding of international peace and conflict. The center's faculty, students and guest speakers explore military, strategic, economic, environmental and cultural aspects of peace and conflict.