NEWS

from Central Connecticut State University
Honored as a "Leadership Institution" by the Association of American Colleges & Universities

Media contact: Peter Kilduff, Director of University Relations
(860) 832-1791; Kilduff@ccsu.edu


CCSU Professor Norton Mezvinsky to be major speaker on the Middle East at terrorism studies seminar in Washington, D.C. on September 6

NEW BRITAIN -- September 4 -- Dr. Norton Mezvinsky, Professor of History at Central Connecticut State University, will be the major lecturer at the Scholars’ Seminar hosted by the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC on Thursday, September 6.

Mezvinsky’s lecture -- titled “Syria: The Next Phase?” -- is based largely on his two recent one-on-one meetings with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other high ranking officials in Damascus.  Mezvinsky, who is also a Connecticut State University Professor, will appear under the auspices of the Potomac Institute’s International Center for Terrorism Studies.

The Potomac Institute is a not-for-profit public policy research institute (so-called “think tank”) located in Arlington, Virginia; it focuses on key science and technology issues. 

Mezvinsky will be introduced by Prof. Don Wallace, Chairman, International Law Institute.  Prof. Yonah Alexander, Director, International Center for Terrorism Studies, and Prof. Edgar H. Brenner, Co-Director, Inter-University Center for Legal Studies, will also speak.

Mezvinsky’s lecture will be followed by comments from Issam Saliba, Senior Foreign Law Specialist at the Law Library of Congress.  Saliba is a member of the Beirut Bar and a licensed Foreign Legal Consultant in the District of Columbia. Prior to joining the Law Library of Congress, he practiced law as a trial attorney, corporate counsel, and international legal consultant in the Middle East and in the U.S.

Dr. Mezvinsky has lectured widely, including in Canada, Egypt, Germany, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.  He has written and edited numerous books, articles, pamphlets, and other publications in history and Middle East Studies. In addition to interviewing President Assad, Mezvinsky plans to continue his research in Syria in coming months.

Further information about the Potomac Institute is available from Steven Lockfield at 703-562-4522 or on-line at icts@potomacinstitute.org

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