073 STUDENTS SPARK DIALOGUE ON MIDDLE EAST VIOLENCE

MTSU Faculty Experts to Tackle Thorny Crisis of International Import

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 18, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

(MURFREESBORO) – Americans for Informed Democracy (AID) will present “The Israeli-Lebanese Conflict: How the Media Affect the U.S. Perspective,” a panel discussion, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20, in Room 221 of the Learning Resources Center. The dialogue is free and open to the public.
“The event will allow students an opportunity to ask questions and express their opinions about the current crisis between the Lebanese and Israelis,” Angie Feeney, president of the MTSU chapter of AID, says. “This has been an issue receiving great media coverage after Hezbollah, a Lebanese paramilitary group, kidnapped two Israeli soldiers in early July 2006, sparking the conflict.”
Lasting from July 12, 2006 until a United Nations-brokered cease fire went into effect August 14, 2006, the fighting claimed the lives of more than 1,500 people and wounded more than 5,000 in both nations.
MTSU professors participating in the dialogue include Dr. Karen Petersen, assistant professor of political science, who attended a terrorism conference in Israel this past summer and specializes in international politics and U.S. national security policy; Dr. Sean Foley, assistant professor of history, who held Fulbright fellowships in Syria and Turkey in 2002 and 2003 and teaches “Topics in Modern Middle East History: Arab/Israeli Conflict;” Dr. John Omachonu, associate dean of the College of Mass Communication, whose areas of expertise include media technology and globalization; and Dr. Larry Burriss, professor of journalism, a veteran of Operation Desert Storm as well as years of print and broadcast journalism experience.
Feeney describes Americans for Informed Democracy as “a global student organization that raises awareness in the U.S. about world opinions with the goal of promoting a more multilateral American foreign policy. AID was started in September of 2002 by Americans studying abroad at Oxford University who believed that U.S. unilateralism was undermining America's moral message in the world. As word about its mission spread, it gained members at more than 500 universities in over 10 countries.
“This (discussion) is part of a ‘hope, not hate’ program that AID does nationwide,” Feeney says. “This is a good way to facilitate better relations between the U.S. and the Arab world.”
In addition to Feeney, AID’s officers are Logan Grant, vice president; Emily Anderson, secretary; and Jamie Bowers, treasurer. Dr. John Maynor, assistant professor of political science, is the faculty advisor.