Pietra Rivoli, author of The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy, the Common Text chosen for Loyola’s first-year students, will speak at the College on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 4:30 p.m. in McGuire Hall on the College’s North Charles Street Campus.

Rivoli’s book, subtitled An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade, considers the experiences of Texas cotton farmers, factory workers in China, labor champions in the American South, used clothing vendors and Tanzania and other groups involved in the manufacturing and distribution of the fashion staple. Rivoli, a Professor of Finance at Georgetown University, considers the issues ties to subsidies, tax breaks and forced price warfare, arriving at some surprising conclusions.

The book, read by all members of the freshman class of 2010, was chosen in part because it reflects the College’s ongoing Year of the City initiative, which calls for a reaffirmation of the Loyola’s relationship with Baltimore, a celebration of the city’s strengths, and an examination of the issues that affect it today. Specifically, Rivoli’s book considers the circumstances that arise when factories and manufacturing jobs head overseas, a key element in the shift in American urban economy, particularly in older, industrial cities like Baltimore, in the past 50 years.

For more information on Loyola’s Common Text program, please visit http://www.loyola.edu/academics/freshmanprograms/commontext2006.html