CHIASMOS: The University of Chicago International and Area Studies Multimedia Outreach Source [video]

A talk by Pervez Hoodbhoy, Department of Physics, Quaid-e-Azama University. Dr. Hoodbhoy received his bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering and mathematics, master's in solid state physics, and Ph.D in nuclear physics, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been a faculty member at the Department of Physics, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad since 1973. He is chairman of Mashal, a non-profit organization that publishes books in Urdu on women's rights, education, environmental issues, philosophy, and modern thought. Dr. Hoodbhoy has written and spoken extensively on topics ranging from science in Islam to education issues in Pakistan and nuclear disarmament. He produced a 13-part documentary series in Urdu for Pakistan Television on critical issues in education, and two other major television series aimed at popularizing science. He is author of Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality, now in 5 languages. Co-sponsors: Committee on Southern Asian Studies, South Asia Language and Area Center.

A talk by Dahr Jamail, independent journalist and author. As the occupation of Iraq unravels, the demand for independent reporting is growing. Since 2003, unembedded journalist Dahr Jamail has filed indispensable reports from Iraq that have made him this generation's chronicler of the unfolding disaster there. In these collected dispatches, Jamail presents never-before-published details of the siege of Fallujah and examines the origins of the Iraqi insurgency. Dahr Jamail makes frequent visits to Iraq and has published his accounts in newspapers and magazines worldwide. He has regularly appeared on Democracy Now!, as well as the BBC, Pacifica Radio, and numerous other networks. Co-sponsors: Center for Middle Eastern Studies.

A talk by David Cole, Professor of Law at Georgetown University. In "Less Safe, Less Free: Why America Is Losing the War on Terror," Professor Cole and Jules Lobel, two of the country's preeminent constitutional scholars, argue that the great irony is that the Bush administration's sacrifices in the rule of law, adopted in the name of prevention, have in fact made us more susceptible to future terrorist attacks. They debunk the administration's claim that it is winning the war on terror and offer an alternative strategy in which the rule of law is an asset, not an obstacle, in the struggle to keep us both safe and free.

The growing evidence of outside interference in the hiring process at universities and the recent tenure denials at DePaul University, has prompted leading scholars across the nation to begin to speak out in defense of academic freedom. The DePaul University Academic Freedom Committee, Verso Books, and Diskord Journal sponsored a public symposium chaired by Tariq Ali, editor of Verso Books and New Left Review, and featuring: Akeel Bilgrami (Columbia University), Noam Chomsky (MIT), Tony Judt (NYU), John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago), Norman Finkelstein (formerly of DePaul University), Neve Gordon (Ben-Gurion University), Mehrene Larudee (DePaul University) and Evan Lorendo (DePaul Academic Freedom Committee).

A look into the world of Japanese puppetry featuring a performance and lecture demonstration of Japanese puppetry and traditional music by members of Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe and Imada Puppet Troupe.

A talk with Robert Amsterdam, founding partner, Amsterdam & Peroff, legal defense counsel for Mikhail Khodorkovsky. In practice since 1980, Mr. Amsterdam has extensive experience litigating and arbitrating corporate disputes in emerging markets, focusing on the areas of individual and corporate human rights. Mr. Amsterdam was retained by Mikhail Khodorkovsky in August, 2003 as part of the YUKOS-Group MENATEP defense team. Since then, he has worked with Russian human rights lawyers to prepare a White Paper on international human rights issues as they relate to the prosecution of Platon Lebedev, Alexei Pichugin and Mr. Khodorkovsky. (Moderated by Thomas Ginsburg, Visiting Professor, University of Chicago Law School.) Co-sponsor: The Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies.

A discussion with Pance Velkov, Macedonian artist and preservationist. "Time and The Sacred" is a collection of photographs which redresses the general lack of knowledge about religious art of the Republic of Macedonia, and at the same time it provides a venue for acquainting viewers with a unique environment in which Christianity and Islam have coexisted for more than six centuries. Created by Pance Velkov with the support of the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs, in particular the French Cultural Centers of Skopje, the Republic of Macedonia and Sofia, Bulgaria, the exhibit’s objectives are to investigate the complex issues related to the meaning and the future of the sacred heritage of the Balkans. Co-sponsor: Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies.

A panel featuring John J. Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen M. Walt of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. "The Israel Lobby" was originally published in the London Review of Books in March 2006. It provoked both howls of outrage and cheers of gratitude for challenging what had been a taboo issue in America: the impact of the Israel lobby on U.S. foreign policy. Now in a work of major importance, Mearsheimer and Walt deepen and expand their argument and confront recent developments in Lebanon and Iran. From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

Wangari Maathai is a Kenyan politician and environmental activist who was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize for Peace, the first black African woman to win a Nobel Prize. Maathai was elected to Kenya's National Assembly with 98 percent of the vote in 2002 and in 2003 was appointed assistant minister of environment, natural resources, and wildlife. She is the author of "The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience". Co-sponsors: The Division of the Humanities and Rockefeller Chapel.

A talk by Jorge Fernandez-Souza, Magistrate Judge, Professor of Law and former Dean of Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, former Delegado of Delegacion Miguel Hidalgo, and lawyer for Bishop Samuel Ruiz in the Chiapas negotiations (1994 – 1997). From the Human Rights in Mexico Series. Sponsored by the Katz Center for Mexican Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, the Human Rights Program, and the Norman Wait Harris Fund of the Center for International Studies.