Four More Scheduled Events Complete Yale Teach-in Series

A debate sponsored by two student organizations, panel discussions about America’s foreign policy and the prospects for nation building, and a student dialogue will round out the series of Yale Teach-ins related to the war in Iraq initiated by Yale University President Richard C. Levin last month.

On April 17 at 8 p.m. there will be a debate between Rashid Khalidi, professor of history and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago, and John Gaddis, who is the Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History and a director of the International Security Studies Program at Yale, as well as the coordinator of the Teach-in series. Two student groups representing different views of the war, the Yale Coalition for Peace and the Yale College Students for Democracy, are sponsoring this event. Topics to be debated include the legitimacy of the war in Iraq, the post-war role of the United States in promoting democracy in Iraq and America’s future involvement in the Middle East beyond Iraq.

“Nation-building: Premises and Prospects” is the title of the Teach-in on April 24. Panelists are Yale Professors James Scott, who teaches in the departments of Political Science and Anthropology; Nicholas Sambanis, member of the history department and head of the United Nations Studies program; and Ivo Banac, who teaches history and is the chair of the Council on European Studies. The moderator will be Cynthia Farrar.

On April 27 a distinguished panel of experts on America’s foreign policy and globalization will meet for a discussion titled “What’s the Future: Pax Americana or a Multilateral Order?” The panel is comprised of Michael Hirsh, a senior editor of Newsweek magazine and author of “At War With Ourselves: Why America is Squandering Its Chance to Build a Better World”; William Wohlforth, who teaches at Dartmouth College and wrote the often cited article “American Primacy in Perspective” in the journal Foreign Affairs (July/August 2002); and former President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo, Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. The discussion will be moderated by Yale Law School Professor Amy Chua, who is the author of “World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability.”

The last Teach-in of this series, May 4, is an open discussion about the war by Yale students representing an array of opinions and political persuasions.

Free and open to the public, all events in the series take place in Luce Hall Auditorium, 34 Hillhouse Ave., at 8 p.m.

The Teach-ins were conceived by President Levin as a way to provide students and the larger public with the knowledge to formulate educated opinions about public events of profound importance.

“Through the expertise of our faculty, the University can provide multiple perspectives on controversial issues,” Levin commented on the series.

“The War in Iraq: Yale University Teach-ins” began on March 26 with a panel discussion at which Yale faculty members expressed views ranging from distressing predictions for the ultimate outcome of the war to optimism for long-term peace in the Middle East.

In a discussion of the cultural heritage of the war on April 1, a panel of historians and archaeologists expressed concern, prophetically, about the safety of the many archaeological treasures in Iraq’s museums and throughout its landscape.

Other highlights of the series include a lecture about the challenge of covering the events in Iraq objectively by NPR correspondent Larry Bensky; a discussion with Yale professors on the ethical and economic ramifications of the war; an examination of the war’s impact on the nation’s economy; and the future of the United Nations.

All events in “The War in Iraq: Yale University Teach-ins” are being recorded on videotape and can be seen online. Visit www.yale.edu/opa for direct links to the online recordings.