Professor Juan R.I. Cole will give this year's Sabbagh lecture, titled “The Arab Spring One Year Later.” Cole’s lecture is Thursday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Marriott University Park at 880 East 2nd Street. Both the lecture and the reception that follows are free and open to the public.

In this talk, Cole will review the political and social changes in the Arab World during the past year and consider what they mean to workers, women, intellectuals and businesses in the region. He will consider the outcome of the Tunisian and Egyptian elections, and survey continued protest movements, as well as look at the role of armed forces in Egypt and Libya during the transition.

Juan R.I. Cole is the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. For three decades, he has sought to put the relationship of the West and the Muslim world in historical context. Cole has written widely about Egypt, Iran, Iraq and South Asia, and has commented extensively on al-Qaeda and the Taliban, the Iraq War, the politics of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Iranian domestic struggles and foreign affairs.

Cole’s most recent books are “Engaging the Muslim World” and “Napoleon’s Egypt: Invading the Middle East.” He has been a regular guest on PBS’s “Lehrer News Hour,” and has also appeared on “ABC Nightly News,” “Nightline,” the “Today” show, “Charlie Rose,” “Anderson Cooper 360,” “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” “The Colbert Report,” “Democracy Now!” and many other programs. He has a regular column at Truthdig.

The Sabbagh Lecture is presented by the UA School of Anthropology. These lectures focus on the Arab cultures of the Middle East from an anthropological perspective. Through the generosity of Tucsonans Entisar and Adib Sabbagh, an expert in Arab cultures is brought to campus each year for a public lecture and a master seminar for graduate students. The Sabbaghs have sponsored the series for 20 years.

“For two decades now, the Sabbagh’s generosity has made possible this annual event which is unique to Tucson,” said Regents’ Professor John Olsen, interim director of the School of Anthropology.  “The lecture is the cornerstone of the School of Anthropology’s public outreach program and offers everyone in the community the opportunity to learn from and interact with a wide spectrum of scholars interested in Arab cultures of the Middle East.”
 

Contact: Lori Harwood, director of external relations, UA College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, 520-626-3846, harwoodl@u.arizona.edu