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Duke Forum To Offer Historical Perspectives On Recent Crisis

By Duke Today Staff

DURHAM, N.C. - A forum that seeks to help people better understand the historical context of today's terrorism crisis will be held on Friday, Oct. 19, at Duke University.

The forum, titled "Historians Reflect on the Current Crisis: International Perspectives," is free and open to the public. It will run from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Richard White Lecture Hall on Duke's East Campus.

The event is sponsored by the university's Department of History and will feature five of its scholars, who each will speak for 15 or 20 minutes. A question-and-answer session will follow.

The scholars who will be speaking, and their topics, include:

  • Vasant Kaiwar, assistant professor of history, "Regional Issues and the Present Conflict in Central Asia"
  • Sucheta Mazumdar, assistant professor of history, "Reflections on the Current Crisis in Light of Globalization since the 1970s"
  • Martin Miller, professor of history, "Conflicted Origins of Modern Terrorism"
  • Ylana Miller, assistant professor of history, "Reflections on the Current Crisis in Light of Middle Eastern/U.S. Relations" and
  • John Richards, professor of history, "Warriors and their Homeland in Afghanistan."

The forum will be moderated by history department chairman John Thompson.

Another forum, also organized by the history department, will take a historical look at how terrorism and its aftermath have affected the United States and its people. The speakers and location have not yet been announced for this forum, which will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25.

Following the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, Duke began a series of public forums designed to promote informed thought and debate on critical issues surrounding the attacks. Streaming video of the previous five forums, along with links and other resources, can be accessed at http://www.duke.edu/web/forums/.