EUGENE, Ore. -- (March 28, 2011) - The social movements that have keyed this year's revolutions across the Arab world will be explored April 6 in a panel discussion led by the University of Oregon's top authorities on the Middle East and its politics.
"Revolution in the Arab World" will be presented from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the UO's Living Learning Center Performance Hall, across 15th Avenue from the artificial surface practice fields. The hall can seat about 180, and the public is invited to the free event.
Panelists will discuss the reasons for - and potential outcomes of - this year's democracy uprisings that have swept across Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and other North African and Middle Eastern countries.
Radwan Ali, who has been a lecturer since 2005 at the University of Salahaddin-Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, will join the UO panel by Skype. Ali has served as head of the department of media at Salahaddin University since 2007, and is the author of nine books - including two about Syria and the Kurdish issue in that country. He was among a group of six Iraqi journalists who visited the UO earlier this year, and is working with UNESCO to develop journalism curricula for Iraq.
The panel will also include Shaul Cohen, an associate professor of geography at the UO who specializes in the Middle East and has been named a Carnegie Council Fellow on Global Ethics; and Fulbright Fellow Dennis Galvan, co-director of the UO's Global Oregon Initiative and associate professor of international relations. Galvan has conducted field work in West Africa since 1986, and his courses at the UO have included "Nation Building, Nation Wrecking," and "Institutions and Social Change." Cohen teaches "Geography of the Middle East" each fall term, focusing on politics, culture and regional cohesion.
At least one additional Middle East expert is expected to participate in the panel discussion, which will be moderated by David Frank, dean of the Robert D. Clark Honors College.
"Senior Vice Provost Russell Tomlin suggested I assemble our best research scholars on global politics and the Middle East to help us better understand the revolutions in the Arab world," Frank said. "Our goal is to provide a scholarly interpretation of the events taking place in the Arab world, one based on the best available research."
Planning for the UO panel discussion began in February. It is sponsored by the Global Oregon Big Idea, the UO's Carnegie Council on International Ethics Initiative, the Clark Honors College and University Housing.
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.
MEDIA CONTACT: Joe Mosley, UO media relations, 541-346-3606, jmosley@uoregon.edu
SOURCE: David Frank, dean of Clark Honors College, 541-346-4198, dfrank@uoregon.edu