Chiasmos: The University Of Chicago International And Area Studies Multimedia Outreach Source [audio]

A talk by Danny Postel, Senior Editor of openDemocracy, an online global magazine of politics & culture. The Iran depicted in the headlines is a rogue state ruled by ever-more-defiant Islamic fundamentalists. Yet inside the borders, an unheralded transformation of a wholly different political bent is occurring. A "liberal renaissance," as one Iranian thinker terms it, is emerging in Iran, and in his pamphlet Reading 'Legitimation Crisis' in Tehran, Danny Postel charts the contours of the intellectual upheaval. From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

Readings of original poetry and fiction by two leading South Slavic authors, Igor Štiks from Croatia and Aleš Debeljak from Slovenia, both of whom currently reside in Chicago. The readings are followed by a discussion of the creative atmosphere and trends in contemporary literature in Southeast Europe, with time devoted to the experience of writing away from one’s home country. Sponsored by the Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies, the Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures, the Franke Institute for the Humanities, International House, and the Arts Planning Council.

A talk by Carl Ernst, Kenan Distinguished Professor, Dept. of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. From the South Asia Seminar.

A talk by Gillian Slovo, co-author of the play "Guantanamo: 'Honor-Bound to Defend Freedom.'" South African-born Gillian Slovo has published a family memoir and ten novels, including Ice Road, which was short-listed for the Orange Prize. From the Human Rights Distinguished Lecturer Series; co-sponsored by the Norman Wait Harris Fund of the Center for International Studies.

A lecture by François Prud'homme, El Colegio de Mexico. Sponsored by the Katz Center for Mexican Studies.

A talk by David Gilmartin, North Carolina State University. Sponsored by the Committee on Southern Asian Studies, the Norman Wait Harris Fund of the Center for International Studies, and the American Institute of Pakistan Studies.

A talk by I.A. Zilli, Aligarh Muslim University. Sponsored by the Committee on Southern Asian Studies, the Norman Wait Harris Fund of the Center for International Studies, and the American Institute of Pakistan Studies.

A talk by C.M. Naim, Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago. Sponsored by the Committee on Southern Asian Studies, the Norman Wait Harris Fund of the Center for International Studies, and the American Institute of Pakistan Studies.

A talk by Malcolm Bush, President of the Woodstock Institute. From the International Child Welfare Conference, co-sponsored by The Center for International Studies' Norman Wait Harris Fund, School of Social Service Administration, SSA International Social Welfare Group, and Chapin Hall Center for Children.

Remarks by and honoring Dr.Harold Richman, Hermon Dunlap Smith Professor of Social Welfare Policy Emeritus in the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration and College and founding Director and current Research Fellow at the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago; from the International Child Welfare Conference, co-sponsored by The Center for International Studies' Norman Wait Harris Fund, School of Social Service Administration, SSA International Social Welfare Group, and Chapin Hall Center for Children.

A roundtable discussion with Maria de los Angeles Torres (Chicago), Norma del Rio (Mexico), and Irene Rizzini (Brazil) from the International Child Welfare Conference, co-sponsored by The Center for International Studies' Norman Wait Harris Fund, School of Social Service Administration, SSA International Social Welfare Group, and Chapin Hall Center for Children.

A talk by Irene Rizzini, Professor, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio, Department of Social Work). From the International Child Welfare Conference, co-sponsored by The Center for International Studies' Norman Wait Harris Fund, School of Social Service Administration, SSA International Social Welfare Group, and Chapin Hall Center for Children.

A lecture by María Amparo Casar, Centro de Investigacíon y Docencia Económicas, A.C. Sponsored by the Katz Center for Mexican Studies.

A talk by Mark Siderits, Professor of Philosophy, Illinois State University. From the South Asia Seminar.

A talk by Sallie Hughes, Asst. Prof. in the School of Communication at the Univ. of Miami, on her book, Newsrooms in Conflict: Journalism and the Democratization of Mexico. The book examines the dramatic changes within Mexican society, politics, and journalism that transformed an authoritarian media institution into many conflicting styles of journalism with very different implications for deepening democracy in the country. From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

A talk by Tariq Ali, editor, New Left Review. Since 1998, the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela has brought Hugo Chávez to world attention as the foremost challenger of the neoliberal consensus and American foreign policy. While Chávez's radical social-democratic reforms have brought him worldwide acclaim among the poor, he has attracted intense hostility from Venezuelan elites and Western governments. Drawing on first-hand experience of Venezuela and meetings with Chávez, Tariq Ali shows how Chávez's views have polarized Latin America and examines the hostility directed against his administration. Ali discusses the enormous influence of Fidel Castro on both Chávez and Evo Morales, the newly-elected President of Bolivia, and contrasts the Cuban and Venezuelan revolutionary processes. From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

A talk by Ira Chernus, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Colorado-Boulder on his book, Monsters to Destroy. In an ambitious effort to clarify a complicated issue, Ira Chernus tackles the question of why U.S. foreign policy aimed at building national strength and security has the paradoxical effect of making the country less safe and secure. His answer: The 'war on terror' is based not on realistic appraisals of the causes of conflict, but rather on 'stories' that neoconservative policymakers believe about human nature and a world divided between absolute good and absolute evil. From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

A lecture by Lorenzo Meyer, El Colegio de Mexico. Sponsored by the Katz Center for Mexican Studies, the Center for Latin American Studies Latin American Briefing Series, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, and Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan.

Atlantic Monthly editor James Fallows discusses his new book, based on his award-winning series of articles for the magazine. Fallows analyzes the decision-making behind the Iraq war, and argues that the administration didn't fail to plan — it just ignored the plans of its own experts. Fallows also places the war within the larger context of the war on terror, arguing that the Iraqi venture has greatly undercut our global efforts to curtail terror attacks and the effectiveness of terrorist organizations. From the World Beyond the Headlines Series.

Lecture by Brian Bergstrom, PhD candidate, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago. From the "Epidemics Then & Now: Infectious Diseases Around the World," the 2006 University of Chicago Summer Institute for Educators. Co-sponsored by the Center for International Studies, the Graham School of General Studies, the Center for East Asian Studies, the Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies, the Center for Latin American Studies, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the South Asia Language and Area Center, the Human Rights Program and the University of Illinois Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.