NEWS RELEASE

News Bureau • Schofield Hall 201 • Eau Claire, WI 54702
phone: (715) 836-4741
fax: (715) 836-2900

UW-Eau Claire and L.E. Phillips Memorial
Public Library To Present Series of
Lectures and Films on the Middle East

MAILED: Oct. 1, 2002

         EAU CLAIRE — University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire assistant professor of history Kate Lang is one of four nationally known scholars in the field of Islamic studies who will present a series of lectures and films on identity and conflict, justice, civil society and families in the Middle East this fall in Eau Claire.
          The three contemporary films from the Middle East and North Africa depict complexities of Islamic life today. A panel discussion and lecture series complement the film presentations.

• 7 p.m. Oct. 14, Schofield Auditorium, UW-Eau Claire
  “A Female Cabby in Sidi Bel Abbes,” a film exploring the role of women in Algerian society, caught between the expectations of those who support their independence and those who believe they should confine themselves to roles outside the public sphere, will screen. The film won Best Documentary at the 2001 Zanzibar International Film Festival. Lang, a specialist in early Islamic history, will lead a discussion after the film. Lang has traveled extensively in the Middle East and conducted research in Egypt and Yemen. At UW-Eau Claire, she teaches Islamic history, historiography and women’s history.
• 7 p.m. Oct. 17, L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library
  John Voll, professor of Islamic history at Georgetown University, will give a lecture titled “Barbie Dolls and Terrorism: Identity and Conflict in the Contemporary Middle East.” Voll is associate director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. He is author of “Islam: Continuity and Change in the Modern World” and co-author of “Islam and Democracy and Makers of Contemporary Islam.” He has traveled widely in the Muslim world and received a Presidential medal in recognition of his work in Islamic studies from President Husni Mubarak of Egypt.
• 7 p.m. Oct. 21, Schofield Auditorium, UW-Eau Claire
  The film “Bethlehem Diary,” which debuted at the 2002 Human Rights Watch Film Festival in London, will be presented. It focuses on the lives of two families in Bethlehem at Christmastime, demonstrating the effect that the Intifada has had on Palestinians’ lives. Lang will lead a discussion following the film.
• 7 p.m. Oct. 28, L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library
  Linda Darling, associate professor of history at the University of Arizona, will give a lecture titled “Understanding Justice in the Middle East.” Darling is the author of “Revenue-Raising and Legitimacy: Tax Collection and Finance Administration in the Ottoman Empire, 1560-1660,” an investigation of tax assessment and collection procedures and their political implications in a time of fiscal and economic downturn in the Middle East. She teaches the history of women in the Middle East, religion and state in Islam and Islamic mysticism
• 7 p.m. Oct. 30, Schofield Auditorium, UW-Eau Claire
  The film “Women of Hezbollah” will screen. The film explores the complex and changing lives of two women who are activists in Hezbollah (the Islamic Party of God). Lang will lead a discussion following the film.
• 7 p.m. Nov. 4, L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library
  Jillian Schwedler, assistant professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland at College Park, will give a lecture titled “Civil Society and Political Freedom in the Arab World Since September 11.” Schwedler’s publications include two edited volumes, “Toward Civil Society in the Middle East? A Primer,” and “Islamist Movements in Jordan.” She is chair of the board of directors of the Middle East Research and Information Project, publishers of the quarterly journal Middle East Report.
• 4-6 p.m. Nov. 6, Ojibwa Room, Davies Center, UW-Eau Claire
  The UW-Eau Claire Center for International Education will present an International Roundtable discussion titled “Understanding Islam: International Perspectives.” The discussion will present the perspectives of Middle Eastern Islamic students. Paul Kaldjian of the department of geography at UW-Eau Claire will moderate. Kaldjian conducted field work in Turkey for his dissertation, “Urban Food Security and Contemporary Istanbul: Gardens, Bazaars and the Countryside.”
• 7 p.m. Nov. 11, L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library
  Michael Chamberlain, associate professor of history at UW-Madison, will give a lecture titled “Family, Household and Politics in the Medieval Middle East.” Chamberlain has conducted research in many Middle Eastern countries. His book, “Knowledge and Social Practice in Medieval Damascus,” studies the relationship between the production and transmission of religious knowledge and the acquisition and transmission of political authority. He is writing a biography of Ibn Taymiyya, a 13th century Damascene scholar whose writings have exerted a major influence on early Islamic liberalism, contemporary Islamist movements and the Arabian Peninsula.

          For information about these programs, call (715) 839-5004 or email.
          This program series is sponsored by UW-Eau Claire’s Office of Academic Affairs, Center for International Education, College of Arts and Sciences, history department and the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library. The series is funded in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Humanities Council, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Wisconsin Humanities Council supports public programs that engage the people of Wisconsin in the exploration of human cultures, ideas and values.
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JB

  News Bureau
Judy Berthiaume
UW-Eau Claire News Bureau
Schofield 201
(715) 836-4741
newsbur@uwec.edu

Updated: October 24, 2002