Encountering Iraq:
History and Conflict

Chestnut Hill, MA, October 18, 2002 On Tuesday October 29, 2002, Pine Manor College will sponsor a forum featuring Drs. Kirk Beattie and A. Karim Khudairi, who will critically evaluate the current, tense political situation and the threat of war between Iraq and the United States. The presentation is the first of the College’s new International Speakers Series, which has been created to provide insight for the College community and other interested parties into major global political, social, and economic issues. The presentation will be held on Tuesday, October 29, 2002, at 6 p.m., in the Kresge Lecture Hall, located on the College’s campus at 400 Heath Street in Chestnut Hill. The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. A. Karim Khudairi, a native of Iraq, obtained his bachelor of science degree from the University of Baghdad and his PhD from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1953. He was professor and dean at the University of Baghdad until 1966, when he came to Boston as professor and graduate director of the Biology Department of the College of Arts and Sciences at Northeastern University. Dr. Khudairi was granted a National Science Foundation Grant (USA) and the Swedish Academy of Science Grant. Presently he is professor emeritus at Northeastern University. After his retirement he served as the president of the Islamic Center in Quincy, MA, and founded the Islamic Council of New England, the umbrella organization for the Islamic centers in New England.

Dr. Kirk Beattie is a professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Simmons College. He received his MA and PhD in political science from the University of Michigan, and specializes in the Near East and North Africa. Fluent in French and Egyptian Arabic, with a reading and writing knowledge of Modern Standard Arabic, he has written two highly acclaimed books on Egyptian politics: Egypt During the Nasser Years and Egypt During the Sadat Years. Dr. Beattie has spent more than six years living and conducting research in the Arab world, mostly in Egypt. He has been teaching courses on the Middle East, as well as the Arab-Israeli conflict, for more than 17 years.

The program will be moderated by William Vogele, Associate Professor of Political Science at Pine Manor College. Dr. Vogele, who received his PhD from Brandeis Univ, teaches and publishes in the area of democratic transitions and the transformation of conflict. He recently visited El Salvador to study the processes of democratic transition. Dr. Vogele's publications include Stepping Back: Nuclear Arms Control and the End of the Cold War.

The presentation is sponsored by the PMC English Language Institute and the PMC Diversity Committee. Refreshments will be served.

Founded in 1911, Pine Manor College is a small, four-year liberal arts college that prepares women for lives of inclusive leadership and social responsibility in their workplaces, families, and communities.