UA Event Puts History of Middle East into Focus

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A roundtable titled “Understanding the Revolutions of 2011: Why the History of the Middle East Matters” will be at noon Thursday, March 10, in room 205 of Gorgas Library on The University of Alabama campus.

The event is free and open to the public.

The political landscape of the Middle East is changing rapidly with regime change in Tunisia and Egypt and unrest in Jordan, Lebanon and elsewhere. Three distinguished guest scholars join UA’s own faculty for a frank discussion of the Middle East. The scholars, all noted historians, will lead the audience in a investigation of why understanding the history of the Middle East is essential for understanding its political and cultural dynamics in the present.

As an encouragement to the many students at UA interested in global engagement, the scholars also will reflect on how they first became interested in Middle Eastern history and offer advice for how students today can pursue further study of Middle East.

The panelists are Dr. Juan Cole, Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate professor of history at the University of Michigan; Dr. Richard L. Chambers, former director and professor emeritus of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago and a UA alumnus; and Dr. Will Hanley, assistant professor of history at Florida State University.

The moderator is Dr. David A. Michelson, assistant professor of history at UA. Michelson specializes in the history of Christian minority communities in the Middle East and is director of the Syriac Reference Portal project at The University of Alabama. For further information, see: www.syriac.ua.edu.

The history department is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.