PPPA’s seminar series focusing on the Middle East and Africa continues this Spring with a keynote address by Professor Nader Hashemi (right) of the University of Denver (UD).  Prof. Hashemi is an Associate Professor of Middle East and Islamic Studies at UD’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies. He is also Director of UD’s Center for Middle East Studies, and the author of several books on politics and the Middle East.  As a frequent guest on national television and radio shows, and with opinion pieces in places such as the New York Times, Prof. Hashemi has quickly become one of the most sought after experts on the Middle East.  His address is titled “Is Hassan an Iranian Gorbachev? An Assessment of the Islamic Republic after the Geneva Nuclear Deal.” This talk will take place May 7th at 4 pm in the Tacoma Room.

Also on tap spring quarter:  The distinguished Mr. Faisal Roble of the Institute for the Horn of Africa Studies will be visiting the UW Tacoma campus.  Mr. Roble (left) is a well-respected intellectual, political analyst, and essayist with extensive experience in Africa’s Horn region.  He will be delivering a lecture entitled “Post Civil War Somalia:  Challenges and Opportunities,”  on April 10th at 4 pm  in the Carwein Auditorium.  UW Seattle’s James Long (below), Assistant Professor of Political Science and an Academy Scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, will follow this up with a talk on “Electoral Fraud and Political Violence in Africa.”  Prof. Long’s research focuses on elections in fragile and developing countries, the dynamics of electoral fraud, the causes of electoral violence, and the effects of civil war and insurgency on state-building and development.  Long studies these issues in both sub-Saharan Africa and Afghanistan, and will be speaking on campus April 23rd, 12:30 pm in CP 103. Rounding out the spring schedule will be our own Michael Wotherspoon, a senior in Law and Policy, who will discuss “The Press, Ethnicity and Free Speech in Kyrgyzstan”.  His talk will be based on his experiences in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan where he’s been working for Spektator Magazine.  May 29th, 12:30 pm in the Tacoma Room.  Thanks to both IAS and UW Tacoma’s Arts and Lecturer Committee for making these events possible.    

During Winter Quarter, our Seminar on the Middle East and Africa were lucky to have three great speakers.  Prof. Steve Niva (left) of  Evergreen State College, spoke on the origins and the escalation of the war in Syria, and options for U.S. foreign policy. On February 10^th, Prof. Ron Krabill (UW Bothell) spoke on Nelson Mandela’s Legacy.  Finally, February 24th UW Tacoma’s own Prof. Etga Ugur spoke about recent political developments in Turkey. For more information on this series, contact Prof. Etga Ugur (ugur@uw.edu).