Wisconsin Great Decisions 2004

Scholar on Islam Kicks Off Great Decisions Lecture Series in March

Barbara Stowasser, professor in the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, will speak on March 2. All the public lectures occur on consecutive Tuesdays at
7:30 p.m. in room 150 of Bolton Hall, 3210 N. Maryland Ave.

Stowasser is the author of "Women in the Qur’an," considered one of the most important works available on women in Islam. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in the Middle East. Her most recent book, "A Time to Reap," is an exploration of how Islam, Christianity and Judaism have historically treated periods of apocalyptic imminence.

On March 9, a change has been made to the Great Decisions Lecture, "Latin American Overview," co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies: Diplomat and labor union scholar Maria Helena Moreira Alves will replace Professor Grazia Villarroel.

Maria Helena Moreira Alves Alves is a professor at University of Rio de Janeiro and coordinator of institutional relations for President Luis Lula da Silva of Brazil. Alves has written extensively about trade unions and social movements in Brazil and Latin America. Her book, "State and Opposition in Military Brazil," is regarded as a classic work on the state in Latin America.

Coordinated by UWM’s Institute of World Affairs, Great Decisions brings internationally known diplomats, government officials, scholars and journalists to discuss foreign policy in an interactive setting. The last two lectures include:

March 16 "Public Diplomacy"

Kathy Fitzpatrick, assistant professor, mass communications, DePaul University. Fitzpatrick is the co-author of two ethics-related books, J"ournalism Ethics," and "Public Relations Ethics," and is widely published on topics involving issues of ethics, communication law, crisis management and institutional ethics and social responsibility.
Javier Morillas Gomez, a professor of international economics at the University of San Pablo and the Diplomatic School of Spain, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both in Madrid. He is a member of the Royal Economic Society and Royal Geographic Society of Spain and also of the American Economic Association.

March 23 "Reform in the Middle East"

Joseph Montville, Center for Strategic and International Studies Distinguished Diplomat in Residence, American University. Montville has been director of the Preventive Diplomacy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., which specializes in support of peacemaking in countries affected by serious ethnic conflict. A U.S diplomat for 23 years, he was a policy advisor in the Department of State, serving abroad in Iraq, Lebanon and Morocco.

The series is free for UWM students. Individual programs are $8 for the general public, and $4 for IWA members and UWM faculty and staff. To register, call 414-229-3220 or email iwa@uwm.edu.

Great Decisions co-sponsors are the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Midwest Airlines, The Foreign Policy Association, Wisconsin Public Radio, and the UWM Center for International Education.

For those who cannot attend, Great Decisions presentations will continue in the local media.

Articles focusing on the topic of each lecture will appear in the Crossroads section of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Sundays prior to each lecture.
Interviews with each of the Milwaukee speakers for Great Decisions will appear on WMVS-TV, Channel 36, Sunday afternoons at 4:30 p.m.
Ben Merens interviews Milwaukee Great Decisions speakers at 3 p.m. on Mondays on the Ideas Network of Wisconsin Public Radio (WHAD-FM in Milwaukee).

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