For Release
Jan. 6, 2004

China lecture kicks off Citadel Senior Scholars series

          The Citadel Senior Scholars Lecture Series
kicks off 2004 with "China: The Sleeping Giant Wakes," a presentation by Edwin Williams, president of TraveLearn, a tour specialist that provides learning vacations for seniors.

          Williams has traveled to China nine times since the early 1980s and has witnessed firsthand China's economic growth since the inception of a "free-market" economy. He was honored as " an ambassador of international and cultural understanding" at the 2,550th birthday celebration of Confucius at the Chinese philosopher's birthplace in Qufu, Shandong Province. Williams also traveled on the Yangtze River during the 50th Anniversary of the Founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1999 and on his last trip in October he observed the newly completed Three Gorges Dam Project, China's most ambitious project since the Great Wall.

          Williams will discuss present day China at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14 in Mark Clark Hall Auditorium.

          The Citadel Senior Scholars Program aims to provide continued intellectual and social stimulation in a learning environment for seniors age 55 and older. A membership program ($25 a term), the program offers seniors the chance to take part in non-credit programs taught by Citadel faculty, staff and community leaders and gives them access to many Citadel services and
activities.

          For more information about the China lecture or The Citadel Senior Scholars contact the program sponsor, the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, online at http://www.citadel.edu/cgps/seniorscholars.html or call 953-5089.

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