2008 Impact Symposium to be held March 17-19
Posted 3/13/2008
General Abizaid
Open to the public are addresses by retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, who oversaw military operations in much of the Middle East during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Reza Aslan, a religious scholar born in Iran who has worked to help solve religious conflicts throughout the world. Former MTV News correspondent Gideon Yago will join Aslan for an onstage conversation.
Open only to the Vanderbilt University community is the March 17 address by a women’s rights advocate who has become a target for violence and death threats by Islamic extremists because of her vocal criticism of Islam.
Aslan and Yago will speak Tuesday, March 18, at 7 p.m. Abizaid will speak Wednesday, March 19, at 7 p.m. Both events will be held at Vanderbilt’s Student Life Center. Signed copies of Aslan’s book No god but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam will be on sale following his lecture.
Tickets to the lectures are free to Vanderbilt students, faculty and staff. Only one free ticket may be picked up with Vanderbilt identification card at the university’s Sarratt Student Center box office.
Non-Vanderbilt students and the general public may purchase tickets for the Aslan/Yago and Abizaid lectures. Non-Vanderbilt students with their college or university identification cards may purchase tickets for $5 at the Sarratt box office or any Ticketmaster outlet. General public tickets are $10 at Sarratt box office or any Ticketmaster outlet. Tickets may also be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 615-255-9600.
Aslan is an acclaimed writer and scholar of religions and is currently a senior fellow at the University of Southern California’s Center on Public Diplomacy. His first book, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam, has been translated into six languages and was short listed for the Guardian (UK) First Book Award and nominated for a PEN USA award for research non-fiction.
He was elected president of Harvard’s Chapter of the World Conference on Religion and Peace, a United Nations Organization committed to solving religious conflicts throughout the world. He also served on the advisory boards for both the Council of Foreign Relations and the Ploughshares Fund, which distributes grants to further peace and diplomacy throughout the world.
He has written for the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Nation, among others. He has also appeared on Meet The Press, Hardball, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Anderson Cooper and Nightline.
Yago has spent six years working as a writer and correspondent for MTV News and has been a contributor to CBS News.
As former commander of the U.S. Central Command, Abizaid oversaw military operations in 27 countries from the Horn of Africa to Central Asia, including much of the Middle East. He served in this role during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
For more information about Impact, call the Office of Student Campus Events at 615-322-2471.
Contact: Princine Lewis, 615-322-NEWS
princine.lewis@vanderbilt.edu
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