Historians, Other Campus Experts to Discuss Syria in Public Forum

UNC’s curriculum in peace, war and defense and the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations plans to host a roundtable discussion titled “Intervention in Syria?: Problems, Prospects and Contexts.”

The event is scheduled from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 3, in the Nelson Mandela Auditorium at the FedEx Global Education Center.

The panel will address increased global tensions over the ongoing conflict within Syria and the likelihood that the U.S. and some of its allies will intervene militarily. The United Nations has estimated that up to 100,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in 2011 and that more than 1.7 million refugees have fled to neighboring countries.

Panelists include:

• Sarah D. Shields, Bowman and Gordon Gray Distinguished Term Professor of history and specialist in the history of the Middle East and the long-term colonial effects;
• Cemil Aydin, associate professor of history and specialist in modern Middle Eastern history and the Ottoman empire;
• Michael Morgan, assistant professor of history and specialist in modern international relations and the history of human rights;
• Mark Weisburd, Reef C. Ivey II Distinguished Professor of law and specialist in international law and international human rights;
• Ali Reza Eshraghi, doctoral student in communication studies and journalist and editor specializing in Iran;
• Patricia Sullivan, assistant professor of public policy and specialist in major power military interventions;
• Army Lt. Col. Bob Curris, a UNC-Triangle Institute for Security Studies National Security Fellow and specialist in psychological operations; and
• Army Col. Richard Menhart, a UNC-Triangle Institute for Security Studies National Security Fellow and specialist in logistics.

A question-and-answer session will follow the discussion.

The FedEx Global Education Center is at 301 Pittsboro St. at Pittsboro and McCauley streets. Parking may be available in the garage under the building beginning at 5 p.m.