WAUKESHA – A native of Burma who now resides in Wisconsin, Dr. Prem Sharma will speak at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha on Thursday, September 25, at noon in Conference Room 101. Drawing on his background as a youth surviving major national and religious upheavals and an adult experiencing the weight of historical human violence, he will present “Embracing Diversity: A Journey of Discovery and Hope.”
The retired associate dean for academic affairs at the Marquette University School of Dentistry has written two books in what he considers a trilogy on his formative life events. He published Mandalay’s Child in 1999 and Karma’s Embrace this year. His presentation is based on the same experiences.
Born in Mandalay, Burma, he was 10 when the Japanese invaded the country and ravaged the land during World War II. He fled with his family to India, encountering nature’s dangers in jungle and mountain. Growing up poor in India, he entered that nation’s struggle for freedom from British rule.
Then he met Mahatma Gandhi and was touched by his teachings of compassion and nonviolence.
He bore witness in 1947 when India gained its independence and the nation of Pakistan was created amid bloody ethnic rioting in which 680,000 Hindus and Muslims butchered each other. He further identified this pattern of hatred based on differences when he visited Anne Frank’s house in Amsterdam and Nazi concentration camps.
Reviewing the defining moments of his life in his presentation, Sharma will describe how he handled adversity and the strategies he has developed to confront and deal with his own hatreds, delivering “a compelling message of the need for harmony and understanding between people of different faiths, cultures, and races.”
Dr. Sharma came to the US in 1961 and established himself in all his personal communities. He was president of the Milwaukee Ethnic Council for 8 years and also served as president of the American College of Dentists and the American Society of Dentistry for Children. He sits on the boards of several organizations including the Milwaukee Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Milwaukee Public Museum, and the International Institute of Wisconsin. He is president of the Wisconsin Coalition of Asian-Indian Organizations (which donated a statue of Gandhi to Milwaukee) and a member of the United States Presidential Advisory council on HIV/AIDS.
Sponsored by the University Convocations Committee, the presentation is part of UW-Waukesha’s Visions & Expressions series and is open to the public at no charge. |
