ASIRPA in collaboration with the Indonesian Student Association in Pittsburgh currently organize an annual interdisciplinary conference called Indonesia Focus 2013, November 1-2, 2013, at the William Pitt Union, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. The theme for this year is "Beyond Physical Capital: The Role of Human and Social Capital in Indonesia Economic Growth." We cordially invite you to join this conference. It's a FREE registration.
Dr. Jeff Halper is the co-founder and director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. He is a tireless advocate for justice and civil rights for all Israelis and Palestinians. He has written three books including "An Israeli in Palestine: Resisting Dispossession, Redeeming Israel" from which he will be reading. A light lunch will be served at 11:30am and after the reading and discussion.
The World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh will be hosting the lecture "Does Syria Matter? Policy Discussion and Luncheon" on Friday, November 1 from 12:00 pm-1:45 pm at the Duquesne Club at 325 Sixth Ave in Pittsburgh, PA. Michael Doran, a Roger Hertog Senior Fellow will be speaking. Political dissent, general war fatigue, and an international coalition split on what course to take makes any involvement in Syria - either diplomatic or military - frought with untold consequences and ramifications. But to what degree does Syria actually matter? And, why is the Syrian Civil War an increasingly American issue? Join the World Affairs Council and a leading Middle East expert to discuss the complexities of the on-going Syrian conflict. More information can be found at www.worldpittsburgh.org
Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East
The continuing struggle for a just and fair peace between Israelis and Palestinians should concern all of us. Dr. Jeff Halper is an American-born Jew who has lived in West Jerusalem for forty years and is co-founder and director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD.org). He will be presenting a workshop on how we can best direct our energy to advocate for Palestinian-Israeli peace.
Dr. Jeff Halper’s talk presents the political situation in maps, and also walks through a house demolition in slides. It ends up asking: Where do we go from here?, in which he will talk about options for resolving the conflict – two states, one state (bi-national or democratic) or a regional confederation – or towards apartheid or the warehousing of the Palestinian population.
This talk will work through a number of issues that have been tackled by the revolutionaries in the Arab world. Primarily, the analysis of the geopolitical and grassroots forces at work in advancing and countering the revolutions, mainly in Syria but also in Egypt. The politics of international intervention will figure in prominently as it is a question that remains on the table in both policy and academic circles.
Muhammad Ali was managed—“syndicated”—not by the mob (like many other fighters) but by the Nation of Islam (NOI). This paper explores how the NOI constructed Ali as a usable black body: a distinct, exemplary figure of black manhood. Ali’s refusal to enter Vietnam is in many ways ironic—he becomes the fighter who wouldn’t fight. He relies upon the disjuncture inherent in this distinction to highlight a strong sense of self-determination in service of the NOI syndicate.
Sponsored by: boundary 2, University Honors College, Humanities Center, Department of English, and Professors Jonathan Arac, Lynn Emmanuel, and RA Judy
Thursday, November 7
Humanities Center, 602 CL
4:00-6:00 p.m. - Lecture:
Joseph N. Cleary, Professor of English, Yale University, “The History of the Novel and Empire in the Works of Edward Said and Georg Lukács”
Friday, November 8, English Department, 501 CL
2:00-3:30 p.m. - Lecture:Aamir Mufti, Professor of Comparative Literature, UCLA, “The Late Style of Bandung Humanism”
4:00-6:00 p.m. – Reading:Nuruddin Farah, Distinguished Professor of Literature, Bard College, Reading from his recent fiction and taking questions