UM’s Socialist-Marxist lecture series announced

ORONO – The University of Maine’s Socialist-Marxist Studies Lecture Series for fall 2006 offers a schedule of controversial and thought-provoking lectures on topics ranging from the events and crises in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Bosnia and Latin and South America to the degradation of civil liberties in a post-911 America.

Lectures featuring guest speakers, UM professors and student perspectives on potentially life-changing issues of international importance are offered 12:30-1:45 p.m. Thursdays in the Bangor Room of the Memorial Union, unless otherwise noted.

They are free and open to the public. The series is co-sponsored by the Marxist-Socialist Studies Interdisciplinary Minor, Maine Peace Action Committee, Campus Activities and Events and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Speakers’ topics are intended to raise thought-provoking questions, but do not necessarily present socialist or Marxist viewpoints. For additional information, contact professor Doug Allen, coordinator, Marxist-Socialist Studies, The Maples, University of Maine, at 581-3860 or e-mail: douglas.allen@umit.maine.edu.

The schedule is:

. Sept. 21, “Religion and Violence Today,” with professor Doug Allen, philosophy.

. Sept. 28, :Update on Iraq: Future U.S. Plans for the Middle East,” with Dahr Jamail, an independent journalist who has been reporting from Iraq since 2003. Writing for Inter Press Service and The Asia Times, published in The Nation and The Guardian, and appearing on the “Democracy Now!” and the BBC, Jamail has his own Web site at dahrjamailiraq.com. He also will deliver the Howard B. Schonberger Peace and Social Justice Lecture, “The Ground Truth Today in Iraq,” at 7:30 p.m., 100 Donald P. Corbett Business Building.

. Oct. 5, “The Crisis in Lebanon,” with Imad Durra and Wassim Mazraany, Lebanese physicians, born and raised in Lebanon, now living in the Bangor area.

. Oct. 12, “Military Force and Empire: Latin America and the School of the Americas,” with Lisa Sullivan, peace and justice activist who works with the School of the Americas Watch and for Venezuela Information Center in Washington. With the Maryknoll sisters, she lived and worked for 25 years in Venezuela and has been active in Mexico, Bolivia and other parts of Latin America.

. Oct. 19, “A Conversation with Iranian Graphic Novelist Marjane Satrapi,” Room 130, Little Hall. Satrapi, influential Iranian graphic novelist and author of the widely acclaimed novel “Persepolis,” will talk about the realities of her home country Iran and the Muslim world today. She will be interviewed by Alicia Anstead of the Bangor Daily News before participating in a general question-and-answer and discussion period.

. Oct. 26, “Disappearing Civil Liberties: Abuse of Power Post 9/11,” with Shenna Bellows, executive director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union.

. Nov. 2, “From the Fourth to the Fifth Republic: Hugo Chavez’ Venezuela,” with Georges Kabche, a University of Maine student from Venezuela.

. Nov. 9, “The Task of Justice: Witnessing Genocide in Bosnia.” David Pettigrew, professor of philosophy at Southern Connecticut State University, works on issues of human rights and genocide, and just returned from Bosnia. He also will give a talk at 4 p.m. in The Maples on the “Ethical Implications of Heidegger’s Thought.”

. Nov. 16, “A NAFTA Dividend: Fair Trade, Immigration, and Ending Poverty in North America,” with professor Michael Howard, philosophy.

. Nov. 30, “Everything Is ‘Rent: the Musical,’ the World It Came from, and the World It Calls for,” with Isaac Curtis, a UM graduate and doctoral student in history at the University of Pittsburgh.