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MEADVILLE, Pa. – April 21, 2011 – Allegheny College Professor of Environmental Science and Political Science Michael Maniates has been appointed as a distinguished lecturer for the Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE) Lecture Series on Global Engagement.

Maniates will present a series of lectures in May to residents living on The World, the largest privately owned residential yacht on Earth, with 165 luxury residences. His lectures will focus on the challenges and opportunities of meeting the global economy’s expanding energy demands in ways that are economically, politically and environmentally sustainable.

Tracing its roots to 1963, ISE administers the multi-country study abroad program Semester at Sea, the Forum on Global Engagement and Enrichment Voyages, a travel-and-learn program. The mission of ISE is to help individuals gain the global understanding necessary to address the challenges of our interdependent world. In 2010 ISE embarked on a special partnership with The World to feature renowned experts in the social or political sciences, the arts and humanities, or in other realms of contemporary significance.  The lecture series is designed to emphasize the unique experience of learning at sea while engaging residents in challenging issues and topics.

“Our partnership with The World delivers a lecture series that delves deeply into the world’s most pressing issues, and Professor Maniates is uniquely positioned to provide insights on both the environmental and political aspects of powering our planet and the choices individuals and societies could face,” said Megan Murphy, an Allegheny College graduate and vice president for development and alumni affairs with ISE’s Semester at Sea program, based at the University of Virginia. “The residents of The World are excited to have an opportunity to learn from Professor Maniates and engage in spirited discussions about potential energy paths, decisions and transitions.”

Maniates—described by Miller-McCune Magazine as possibly “the nation’s leading authority on the politics of consumption”—has committed his career to studying and writing about global patterns of consumption, overconsumption and consumerism. He teaches several courses at Allegheny that explore the challenge of meeting rising global energy needs in ways that enhance human prosperity and environmental resilience.

Maniates holds a B.S. (Phi Beta Kappa) in conservation and resource studies and an M.A. and Ph.D. in energy and resources, all from the University of California at Berkeley. He was a Fulbright scholar to India, and in 2002 his book “Confronting Consumption,” written with Tom Princen and Ken Conca, earned Maniates and his co-authors the Sprout Award for the best book in international environmental politics. In 2000 Maniates received Allegheny College’s Thoburn Teaching Award for Innovation and Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.  He also is an alumnus of Semester at Sea, sailing on three voyages as a faculty member and one as the voyage’s academic dean.

Maniates’ best known publications include “Environmental Studies: The Sky Is Not Falling,” published in BioScience; “Individualization: Plant a Tree, Ride a Bike, Save the World” and “In Search of Consumptive Resistance: The Voluntary Simplicity Movement” in “Confronting Consumption”; and “Of Knowledge and Power” in his volume “Encountering Global Environmental Politics.” MIT Press released Maniates’ latest book, “The Environmental Politics of Sacrifice,” in September 2010.

About Allegheny College

The 32nd oldest college in the nation, Allegheny College will celebrate its bicentennial in 2015. One of 40 colleges featured in Loren Pope’s “Colleges That Change Lives,” Allegheny also has been recognized as one of the 100 “best values” in national liberal arts colleges by Kiplinger’s, a private financial advising company.

Allegheny is among only 16 percent of liberal arts colleges nationally that require independent research and/or original creative work of all graduates. Ninety percent of Allegheny alumni seeking employment start a career within eight months of graduation, and the college ranks in the top 5 percent of schools nationally whose students go on to earn Ph.D.s.

The national liberal arts college where 2,100 students with unusual combinations of interests, skills and talents excel