Upcoming events
"'They Lynched Christ Too':
W.E.B. DuBois and the Redemption
of America's Violent Past"
Guest Lecturer Prof. Edward J. Blum
February 7, 2008 7-9pm
Reeve Memorial Union RM 227C
Free and open to all
ISRVM is proud to co-sponsor Professor Blum, who is a historian of race and religion at San Diego State University. He has written Reforging the White Republic and W.E.B. DuBois; American Prophet. He has also co-edited a number of other works. Dr. Blum has been honored with the Peter Seaborg Award in Civil War Studies, the C. Vann Woodward Dissertation Prize, and he has been nominated for the Bancroft Prize as well as the Pulitzer Prize.
"The Return of Torture: Discipline, Sovereignty, and Competing Models of Global Order"
Guest speaker Mattias Gardell
February 14, 2008 7pm
Reeve Memorial Union Theater RM 307
Free and open to all
On Thursday, February 14 at 7:00 pm in the Reeve Theater, Prof. Mattias Gardell,Chair of the Dept of the History of Religions at Uppsala University, will be presenting a talk titled “The Return of Torture: Discipline, Sovereignty, and Competing Models of Global Order.” The talk is free and open to the public.
Prof. Gardell is known as one of the world’s leading field work based research scholars. He has worked closely with radical Islamic milieus in the Middle East (most recently in Cairo), and with radical youth sub-cultures in the US and Europe. His fieldwork in the US has included such diverse subjects as the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims) and White Supremacist organizations across the country.
Dr Gardell's Biography
Mattias Gardell is Professor and Chair of the Dept of the History of Religions at Uppsala University. He has explored the intersections of Religion, Politics and Power in a series of research projects, including Black Nationalist Islam in the US; the religious dimensions of the White Power milieu; the Political Geography of Islam, and New Age Politics. In addition to numerous books and articles in Swedish, his list of publications features works in the English language, including In the Name of Elijah Muhammad. Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam (Duke University Press 1996), Gods of the Blood; The Pagan Revival and White Separatism (Duke Univ Press, 2003); and The Quest for an Islamic State. Globalization and the Transforming Landscape of Political Islam [DUP 2008 forthcoming].
"Black Widows VS. Zombies: Women
in Terror"
Guest speaker Alisa Stack O'Connor
March 11, 2008 7pm
Reeve Memorial Union Theater RM307
Free and open to all
Ms. Stack-O’Conner has written extensively on the role of women in terrorism, most recently focusing on the case of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. She works in the Pentagon, formerly in the office of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. She is currently heading the newly created Pentagon office of Public Diplomacy. She has spoken to UW Oshkosh Terrorism classes via telephone and will be visiting the campus for the first time. She is tasked as well with looking into over the horizon terrorism threats emanating from non-Middle eastern sources.
Dr. Alisa Stack-O'Connor's Biography
Office of the Secretary of Defense
Ms. Alisa Stack-O’Connor is the Principal Deputy, Support to Public Diplomacy in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). Ms. Stack-O’Connor has held several positions within OSD including Acting Director, Policy Planning, Deputy Director, Detainee Policy, and Assistant for Sensitive Special Operations. From 2005-2006, Ms. Stack-O’Connor served as an OSD representative on the faculty of the National War College where she taught core courses, an elective on counterterrorism, and conducted research on how and why terrorist groups employ women. Her research findings have been published in Joint Force Quarterly and the journal Terrorism and Political Violence. Prior to joining the OSD, Ms. Stack-O’Connor worked for Senator Slade Gorton. She also has extensive experience in the non-profit, “think tank” community, including serving as the Director, AccessAsia at the National Bureau of Asian Research. She holds an MS from the National War College, a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University, and a BA from the University of Washington.
