PHILADELPHIA -- Partha Chatterjee, professor of anthropology at Columbia University and at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences in Kolkata, will give the inaugural lecture of the Nand and Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series at the University of Pennsylvania Oct. 3.

Chatterjee will speak on "Democracy and Economic Transformation in India."  The lecture will be at 5 p.m. in the Terrace Room of Logan Hall, 249 S. 36th St.  A reception will follow.

The Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series is a newly endowed public program at Penn established from part of a $1 million dollar gift to CASI from the Nand and Jeet Khemka Foundation.  The program brings leading experts on contemporary India to Penn to promote understanding of issues affecting India.

"The Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series will further the dialogue on India at the University and beyond," Devesh Kapur, CASI director, said.  "It serves as a critical forum for analyzing and understanding the complex changes that the world's largest democracy is experiencing, as well as the challenges that lie ahead."

Each year, CASI will offer four free, public lectures by India specialists from academia, government, business, culture and other disciplines.  The lecture themes this year will address democracy and economy, finance, the legal system and human rights and foreign policy.  

Reservations are encouraged and can be made at casi@sas.upenn.edu or 215-746-3159 or by fax at 215-573-2595.   

The full schedule for the 2007-08 lecture series is available at casi.ssc.upenn.edu/events/khemka_series.htm .