March 24, 2008
In this issue
- Coming up at the Mershon Center
- Other events
- April issue of Origins explores violence in Kenya
- International Affairs seeks nominations for honor society
- Foundation offers anti-terrorism training program
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Friday, March 28, 2008
Sally Marks
"Reflections on the Balance of Power"
Noon, Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave.
In addition to numerous articles, essays, and chapters on the diplomatic and financial history of the interwar era, Sally Marks is author of The Illusion of Peace: International Relations in Europe, 1918-1933 (Macmillan and Palgrave, 1976; 2nd ed. 2003); Innocent Abroad: Belgium at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 (University of North Carolina Press, 1981) which won the George Louis Beer prize in international history of the American Historical Association and the Phi Alpha Theta award; and The Ebbing of European Ascendancy: An International History of the World, 1914-1945 (Edward Arnold and Oxford University Press, 2002). Read more and
RSVP
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Fawaz Gerges
"The Future of Islamist Militancy: A Theoretical and Historical Footnote"
Noon, Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave.
Fawaz Gerges is Christian A. Johnson Chair in International Affairs and Arab and Muslim Politics at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. His interests include Islam and the political process, jihadist movements, Arab and Muslim politics, American foreign policy toward the Muslim world, the modern history of the Middle East, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and history of conflict, diplomacy and foreign policy. Educated at Oxford University and the London School of Economics, Gerges has taught at Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, and Oxford. He is author of Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Muslim Militancy (Harcourt, 2007) and The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global (Cambridge, 2005). Gerges has given hundreds of interviews for media outlets throughout the world, including ABC, CNN, BBC, PBS, CBS, NPR, CBC, and Al Jazeera.
Read more and
RSVP
Friday, April 4, 2008
Richard Bauman
"'It’s Not a Telescope, It’s a Telephone': Encounters with the Telephone on Early Commercial Sound Recordings"
3:30 p.m., Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave.
Richard Bauman is Distinguished Professor of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, Communication & Culture, and Anthropology at Indiana University in Bloomington. He is an eclectic scholar, with degrees in English (B.A., Michigan, 1961), Folklore (M.A., Indiana, 1962), Anthropology (M.S., Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania), and American Civilization (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1968), and his scholarly contributions have transcended conventional academic boundaries. Best known for his theoretical and methodological contributions to the ethnographic study of language and performance, Bauman's scholarship has had an impact on the development of a number of intersecting fields of study, including, folklore, anthropology, history, linguistics, semiotics, and speech communication. His writings have been widely reprinted and translated, and he has lectured at scholarly institutions in South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
Read more and
RSVP
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Shireen Hunter
"Islam and Democracy: Are They Compatible?"
Noon, Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave.
Shireen Hunter is a Visiting Professor at Georgetown University and Distinguished Scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, with which she has been associated since 1983. Her areas of expertise include the Middle East (especially the Persian Gulf region), the Mediterranean, Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus (North and South), and she has done extensive work on North-South relations, energy (Persian Gulf, Caucasus, Central Asia), developing-country issues (political, social, economic, security), and Islam (Russia, Europe, the United States). Hunter is author or editor of 19 books and monographs, including Reformist Voices of Islam: Mediating Religion and Modernity (M.E. Sharpe, June 2008); Islam and Human Rights: Advancing a U.S.-Muslim Dialogue (CSIS, 2005); Modernization, Democracy and Islam (Praeger, 2005); Islam in Russia: the Politics of Identity and Security (M. E. Sharpe, 2004); and Strategic Development in Eurasia After September 11 (Frank Cass, 2003). Read more and
RSVP
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Brig. Gen. Dr.John H. Johns and Dr. Ira Helfand
4:30-5:30 p.m., 1039 Derby Hall, 154 N. Oval Mall
Sponsored by the Columbus Council on World Affairs
Two speakers from the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation will be on campus to meet with students, faculty and interested community participants for an engaging discussion on current foreign affairs. The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation is a Washington, D.C., based, nonprofit, nonpartisan policy organization that focuses on educating the American public and opinion leaders on national security issues, including measures to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, the importance of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty regime and its implications for minimizing the risk of nuclear terrorism, as well as other policy options including those related to the war in Iraq and Iran. The speakers are retired Brigadier General Dr.John H. Johns and Dr. Ira Helfand, co-founder of National Physicians for Social Responsibility. This event is free, but an RSVP is requested to aorosu@yahoo.com or (614) 218-7832 by Tuesday, March 25.
Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective is pleased to announce the publication of its April 2008 issue, which features an analysis of the recent election violence in Kenya.
The violence and turmoil that overtook Kenya in the wake of the disputed December 2007 presidential elections came as a surprise to many in the world, as Kenya has long been viewed as a source of stability on the African continent. Claire Robertson, a historian of Kenya and an active fundraiser for Kenyan development projects, explores the historical roots of the contemporary strife and the problem of using "tribes" to explain the conflict.
Origins is a monthly online news magazine published by the Public History Initiative and eHistory in the History Department at The Ohio State University. In each issue, an academic expert analyzes a current issue -- political, cultural, or social -- in a larger, deeper historical context. In addition to the analysis, Origins also includes podcasts, images, maps, graphs, timelines, and other material.
Recent issues of Origins include:
• "After Putin? Russia’s Presidential Elections," by Marlene Laruelle
• "The Second Amendment Goes to Court," by Saul Cornell
• "The Politics of International Adoption," by Peter Conn
• "Conflict Termination: How to End -- and Not to End -- Insurgencies," by John Guilmartin
• "Tradition vs. Charisma: The Sunni Shi'i Divide in the Muslim World," by Stephen Dale
• "Populism and Anti-Americanism in Modern Latin America," by Justin Lance
Next month's issue will feature "(Fore)closing on the American Dream," by Lawrence Bowdish.
Origins can be found at http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/origins/. The podcast is found at http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/origins/podcasts.cfm.
The Office of International Affairs is seeking nominations for Phi Beta Delta, an honor society dedicated to recognizing scholarly achievement in international education. International Affairs serves as the campus representative for Phi Beta Delta, which has inducted more than 600 Ohio State students, faculty and staff into the honor society since its inception in 1987. The honor society recognizes the achievements of international students and scholars, those who have studied abroad, and faculty and staff who are involved in international activities. For more information and to complete a nomination form, which is due Friday, April 4, visit http://oia.osu.edu.
The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies is accepting applications for its Academic Fellows anti-terrorism training program. This program provides university professors with a detailed understanding of the terror threat that faces our nation and sister democracies.
Centered on a 10-day course taught in conjunction with Tel Aviv University, the program takes place entirely in Israel and runs June 9-June 20, 2008 (travel inclusive). Participants interact with academics, diplomats, military and intelligence officials, and politicians from Israel, Jordan, India, Turkey and the United States. They also visit military bases, border zones and other security installations to learn the practical side of deterring terrorist attacks. All expenses are paid.
The deadline for applications is March 31, 2008. For more information on the program, please visit http://www.defenddemocracy.org/programs/programs.htm. Please feel free to contact our Campus Programs Coordinator, Caitlyn Walters, at Caitlyn@defenddemocracy.org.
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