The acclaimed documentary film An Inconvenient Truth, featuring environmental activist and former Vice President Al Gore, will be shown for four nights at Vanderbilt’s Sarratt Cinema. The screenings, which are free and open to the Vanderbilt community, will feature expert panels discussing the science, ethics, politics and economics of global warming.

“We want to get Vanderbilt talking about global warming,” said Clay Giese, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Science and one of the event’s organizers. “The discussions are a great opportunity to think about some of the really hard questions that come up around this issue. They are going to be led by faculty members from law, economics, political science, history, philosophy, earth and environmental sciences, the Center for Teaching and the Vanderbilt Center for Environmental Management Studies.”

The film will screen at 7 p.m. each evening, followed by a discussion scheduled to begin at 9 p.m.

•    Nov. 27: “The Science of Global Warming”
Is global warming real? Join Molly Miller, Brendan Bream, Jonathan Gilligan and Steve Goodbread from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and Jeff Johnston, an atmospheric scientist based at the Center for Teaching, for a discussion of the scientific debates surrounding global warming.

•    Nov. 28: “The Ethics of Global Warming”
Should we try to stop global warming? Join Vanderbilt political scientist Brooke Ackerly, Mike Vandenbergh from Vanderbilt Law School and David Wood from the Department of Philosophy for a conversation about individual consumption, environmental ethics, environmental justice and human rights as they relate to global warming.

•    Nov. 29: “The Politics of Global Warming”
What role do politics play in global warming? Michael Bess from history and Florence Faucher-King from political science will offer their views on the connections between politics and global warming.

•    Nov. 30: “The Economics of Global Warming”
How might our response to global warming affect the economy – and what if we don’t respond? Hear from experts Jack Barkenbus, an alternative energy expert at the Vanderbilt Center for Environmental Management Studies, and Malcolm Getz, associate professor of economics.

The four-night event is being sponsored by the Center for Ethics and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, along with nine other university departments and organizations: political science; Omicron Delta Epsilon (the economics honor society); the Center for Medicine, Health and Society; the Center for Teaching; history; Human and Organizational Development; Vanderbilt Law School; and women’s and gender studies.

_{Posted 11/20/06}