FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Belgrade visitors to speak at Bates

LEWISTON, Maine -- Two leading human rights activists from Belgrade will discuss the current political situation in Yugoslavia on Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m. in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives at Bates College.

As part of their week-long visit to Bates, Obrad Savic and Natasha Lazovic will also show a film, "Predictions of Fire," Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. in Room 105 of the Olin Arts Center. The public is invited to attend both events free of charge.

Savic is the founder of Belgrade Circle, a non-governmental organization which provides a voice of opposition to the war in Yugoslavia and the Milosevic regime and supports a democratic civil society which would protect human rights. Belgrade Circle maintains ties with similar dissident groups throughout the former Yugoslavia, with contacts in Sarajevo, Zagreb, Ljubljana and Skopje. Savic, who received his Ph.D. from Zagreb University in what is now Croatia, teaches philosophy and cultural criticism at Belgrade University and is the author of several books and articles.

Lazovic, a student at the university and a Belgrade Circle activist, hosted Bates students during a recent college Short Term program which visited Belgrade and Zagreb in May.

Dennis Browne, associate professor of Russian at Bates and the leader of the Short Term program, which produced documentaries based on interviews with lifelong residents of the two cities, will host Savic and Lazovic during their stay.

Located midway between the coast and mountains in south-central Maine, Bates is a 142-year-old undergraduate college of the liberal arts and sciences and is rated among the top 25 national liberal-arts colleges by U.S. News & World Report. Bates offers majors in 23 academic departments and six interdisciplinary programs, and encourages independent study, research in collaboration with faculty members and participation in off-campus programs. Bates does not require standardized-test results for admission.