Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, was in considerable demand as a political analyst during the Medicaid expansion standoff in the Virginia General Assembly and the federal corruption trial of former Governor Bob McDonnell. His commentary on Virginia politics appeared in more than 100 media outlets, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, on WAMU, Washington’s national public radio affiliate, and on MSNBC’s program “Now with Alex Wagner.”
Al-Tikriti Discusses Humanitarian Affairs, ISIS and Islamophobia
Nabil Al-Tikriti
Over the course of two Rappahannock Rotary Club morning meetings, Professor of History and American Studies Nabil Al-Tikriti discussed current humanitarian challenges, the rise and spread of the “Islamic State” (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria, and related issues concerning American and European fears concerning Muslims in their home societies.
In the first meeting, on Aug. 27, Al-Tikriti began by summarizing his involvement in humanitarian affairs with MSF/Doctors Without Borders USA, initially by presenting the growth and evolution of the medical humanitarian agency since its founding in the late 1960s. He then discussed challenges facing NGO actors in the world today, particularly with recent conflicts in Gaza, Syria, Iraq, Central African Republic, and South Sudan, as well as with the rapid outbreak of the Ebola epidemic. In the course of the Q&A, fears were expressed concerning the intentions of Muslim communities in both Europe and the United States. Al-Tikriti, in the course of offering his own perspective on such fears, encouraged the audience to explore the following information sources:
Reach of War 5 minute video on MSF in Syria:
http://vimeo.com/101446661
Vice News Documentary on ISIS (Difficult Material):
https://news.vice.com/video/the-islamic-state-full-length
Syria map:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByQl9HGZDeRXYU5rZVJZVDVlZkU/edit
ISIS threatening ancient burial sites:
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/middle-east/13461-isis-threatens-iraqs-ancient-past-the-lost-city-of-nineveh
Patrick Cockburn, “The Jihadis Return”
As a result of points raised in the first discussion, a second presentation on related topics was felt to be beneficial for all concerned. For that reason, on Sept. 17, Al-Tikriti explored further the background causes and political motivations for the rise and spread of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, attributing the phenomenon primarily to the regional collapse of the state monopoly on violence in the course of the past generation. Following a summary of Western involvement in the region since the Great War, Al-Tikriti cautioned that no easy outcome for regional developments should now be expected. Following that, Al-Tikriti turned to fears concerning Muslim communities in Europe and the United States, pointing out that prominent Muslim leaders have spoken out against ISIS on several occasions, that extremism also exists in several self-identified Christian groups throughout the West, and that some of the same groups harassing American Arab and Muslim communities appear to have also been harassing Mardi Gras revelers in downtown New Orleans. He closed with a discussion of the “Andrew Berwick” manifesto of 2011, pointing out that the author in question was also responsible (as Anders Breivik) for the Oslo massacre of the same year. In the course of the discussion, audience members were urged to investigate the following sources of information:
Iraq Displaced Populations, according to Relief Web International:
http://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/iraq-displacement-humanitarian-snapshot-06-september-2014-enar
Muslim Leaders Speak Out Against ISIS:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/13/term-islamic-state-slur-faith-david-cameron
Malta Boat Sinking Kills 700, mostly from Gaza:
http://euobserver.com/justice/125652
ISIS Issues New Education Curriculum:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/islamic-state-group-issues-curriculum-iraq-25513767
ISIS Bans Evolution in Curriculum:
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/09/16/islamic-tea-party-isil-bans-teaching-of-evolution-in-schools/
Clarion Project Website Addresses “No Go Zone” in Dearborn:
http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/dearborn-no-go-zone-where-islam-rules-and-christians-are-stoned
Detroit Free Press Article and Slides on Same 2012 Dearborn Protest:
http://www.freep.com/article/20120616/NEWS05/120616015/Christian-missionaries-with-pig-s-head-taunt-Arab-Americans-at-Dearborn-festival
ABC News Story on same 2012 Dearborn Protest:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/06/christian-taunts-and-violence-mar-arab-festival-in-michigan/
Same (or similar?) Protesters at Mardi Gras:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asRcUresCBQ
Article Tying 2003 Iraq Invasion Supporters to Calls for Muslim Deportation, Conversion and Violence:
http://www.loonwatch.com/2014/09/radical-right-wing-christians-who-supported-the-iraq-war-want-to-convert-deport-and-kill-muslims/
Original Call for Muslim Deportation, Conversion, and Violence (referred to in previous link):
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:UWvb-YtDzE0J:https://defendchristians.org/commentary/im-islamaphobic-are-you/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
Op-Ed Argues that ISIS Shaped by Western Philosophy:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/09/isis-jihadi-shaped-by-modern-western-philosophy
“Andrew Berwick” manifesto calls for European Independence against Islamic threat (see pdf p. 54 for Nabil Al-Tikriti citation):
http://fas.org/programs/tap/_docs/2083_-_A_European_Declaration_of_Independence.pdf
Denver Post Picture Gallery on Anders Breivik (aka Andrew Berwick) 2011 Oslo attacks:
http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2011/07/27/brutal-terror-attack-in-norway/4531/
Wired Article Highlights DTLT’s Known Pilot
An article in yesterday’s Wired about the open source blogging application Known mentioned the pilot work being done in UMW’s Division of Teaching and Learning Technologies. Known provides a space where students can manage and publish their posts for various social media sites through their own application, controlling the archival copy of their work. It rethinks the users relationship to ownership of their data across sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, SoundCloud, etc. Right now, Jim Groom’s Digital Storytelling course and Zach Whalen’s Introduction to Digital Studies are exploring this application.
One of the points made in the Wired article, that reinforces some of the possibilities of the Domain of One’s Own project, is that the campus can quickly and easily pilot new, cutting edge applications that are defining what many refer to as the Indie Web Movement.
Hanna and Student Publish Historical Markers Study
Stephen Hanna, chair and professor of Geography, and Fariss Hodder ’14 co-wrote an article based on a Fredericksburg historical markers study completed while Hodder was a student. The article, “Reading the signs: using a qualitative Geographic Information System to examine the commemoration of slavery and emancipation on historical markers in Fredericksburg, Virginia” is now available in “cultural geographies,” an international journal of peer-reviewed scholarly research.
Hanna and Hodder also co-authored a chapter for “Social Memory and Heritage Tourism Methodologies,” a methodology book that will be published by Routledge in February 2015.
Farnsworth Co-Authors Research Paper
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, is co-author of a research paper, “News Coverage of U.S. Presidential Campaigns: Reporting on Primaries and General Elections, 1988-2012,” which was presented at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., last month.
Nabil Al-Tikriti Discusses Obama Speech on Iraq/Syria on KPFK Radio Station
Nabil Al-Tikriti
On Thursday, September 11, 2014, Associate Professor of History and American Studies Nabil Al-Tikriti appeared on Los Angeles-based KPFK’s “Radio Uprising” program to discuss President Obama’s speech the previous evening concerning the latest developments in Iraq and Syria. Hosted by Sonali Kolhatkar, Al-Tikriti was also joined by Marjorie Cohn, professor at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, and author of the forthcoming book “Drones, Targeted Killings: Legal, Moral, Geopolitical Issues.”
The segment lasted just over 34 minutes, and can be screened via this podcast: http://uprisingradio.org/home/2014/09/11/facts-behind-the-rhetoric-an-in-depth-analysis-of-obamas-speech-on-isis/.
In the course of this discussion, Al-Tikriti described the regional factors which contributed to the rise of the “Islamic State,” the role played by certain U.S. regional allies, the legacy of the 2003 Anglo-American invasion of Iraq, and the difficulties to be faced by Washington policymakers in the days to come.
O’Dell’s Interview Featured on With Good Reason
Associate Professor of Biology Deborah O’Dell’s interview about bees was rebroadcast on With Good Reason Sept. 6.
Professor Larus Participates in U.S. War College Program
Elizabeth F. Larus, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, participated in the 2014 Commandant’s National Security Program (CNSP) at the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania in July 2014. Participation was by nomination only. Larus joined senior military officers as well as 60 other guests from law, business, the intelligence community, medicine and academia to participate in a series of lectures and small group discussions on pressing national security issues.
Farnsworth Recognized by APSA
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, was recognized at the recent Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association for completing two years as chair of the association’s Political Communication section. The section, one of the larger ones in APSA, includes roughly 400 political science professors and graduate students from around the world who study the intersection of media and politics. Farnsworth previously served two years as vice chair of the section and six years as a member of the section’s executive council. He is the author or co-author of five books on media and politics.
John Broome Co-Authors Op-Ed on Virginia Social Studies
John Broome, associate professor in the UMW College of Education, was among 17 Virginia professors who contributed to Testing Times: Teaching history, social science creates informed citizenry an op-ed featured in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.