The Series’ first speaker, on 12 April 2006, was Nobel Prize-winning economist Dr. Amartya Sen, who has re-shaped how we think about poverty and development and is now bringing the same rigour to his inquiries into ending the violence perpetuated by rigid, one-dimensional stereotypes such as “the Muslim world” and “the Western mind.”

In Conversation with Amartya Sen 2006-06
The Nobel economist turns his attention to how the idea of static, self-contained "civilizations" fragments the world and sows conflict — and how that process can be reversed.

The Illusion of Identity: Nobel Prize-winner Amartya Sen on Violence, Identity, and Globalization 2006-04
As the inaugural lecturer for the IDRC Speaker Series, Amartya Sen spoke to a wide Ottawa audience gathered at Ottawa's National Gallery on 12 April 2006. Professor Sen, the 1998 Nobel Prize winner in Economics, warned that limiting one's perception of a person to his or her religion, race, or nationality, is often the basis for violence.