Release date: Feb. 22, 2006
Contact: Elaine Justice at 404-727-0643 or elaine.justice@emory.edu

Suicide Terrorism Research Examined At Emory Symposium

WHAT: "Dying to Kill, Dying to Win: Contexts and Conditions of Suicide Terrorism," is a symposium focusing on new research concerning suicide bombing, opposition movements and/or insurgency.

WHEN: 1:30–6 p.m. Thursday, March 2, 2006.

WHERE: Jones Room, Woodruff Library, 540 Asbury Circle, Emory campus.

COST: Free and open to the public. Sponsored by the Emory Institute for Comparative and International Studies, and supported by High Tower funds. For more information call 404–727–4663.

PARKING: Fishburne Parking Deck, Fishburne Drive, Emory. For a map go to: http://map.emory.edu/

BACKGROUND: Worldwide experts on suicide terrorism will speak on new research concerning suicide bombing and its larger context of cultural movements, opposition and/or insurgency. Speakers will address the future directions, alternatives and potential expansion or reduction of suicide terrorism in regional and larger geopolitical contexts. Emphasis is on collegial discussion from different viewpoints informed by academic research, says Bruce Knauft, director of Emory's Institute for Comparative and International Studies.

Specific topics will include the strategic logic and allure of suicide terrorism; research on transnational terrorism; organized networks and assessments of terrorism targets; and the role of martyrdom, suffering, violence and human rights in Islamic movements. Panelists are:

Robert Pape, professor of political science, University of Chicago, author of "Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism," whose work focuses on the causes of suicide terrorism and the politics of strategic opposition;

Mia Bloom, assistant professor of political science, University of Cincinnati, author of "Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror" and consultant to the New Jersey Office of Counter Terrorism;

Tamara Makarenko, associate, Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence, University of St. Andrews, Scotland, whose research focuses on transnational terrorism, organized crime networks and vulnerability assessment of terrorist targets in Iraq and elsewhere;

Lori Allen, Carol G. Lederer Postdoctoral Fellow in Anthropology, Pembroke Center, Brown University, whose research examines the role of martyrdom, suffering, violence and human rights in Palestinian nationalism and in Hamas; and

Lara Deeb, Assistant Professor of Women's Studies, University of California, Irvine, whose research examines case-based understanding of Hezbollah and author of the forthcoming book, "Enchanted Modern: Gender and Public Piety in Shi'i Lebanon."

Among the respondents are Dan Reiter, associate professor of political science at Emory, and Karen Colvart, program director a the H.F. Guggenheim Foundation.

Emory University is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. For more than a decade Emory has been named one of the country's top 25 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

Subscribe to News@Emory RSS feeds for automatic updates of the latest news at Emory.

Back