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 and WZO honoree Dr. Moisés F. Salinas is organizing the First International Academic Conference devoted to “Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Pathways to Peace” for March 2008; speakers sought

NEW BRITAIN, CONN. -- November 22, 2007 -- Dr. Moisés F. Salinas, associate professor of psychology at Central Connecticut State University, seeks Middle East scholars to make presentations at the First International Academic Conference devoted to “Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Pathways to Peace,” which will be held at CCSU from March 28 to 30, 2008.

Conference organizer Salinas says the event “will highlight the contribution that social scientific and humanistic research and scholarship can bring towards peace and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. The meeting will include renowned keynote speakers, as well as concurrent presentations and panels. Presentations will highlight research regarding obstacles and opportunities to the achievement of peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”

Salinas, who received the Herzl Award from the World Zionist Organization in 2005 and is author of the critically-acclaimed book “Planting Hatred, Sowing Pain: The Psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” said: “We will strive to maintain a balance between Israeli, Palestinian and other U.S. and international speakers and encourage researchers from all sides of the conflict to send their proposals.”

Already confirmed as keynote speakers are:  Dr. Herbert Kelman, Professor of Psychology and Social Ethics at Harvard University; Dr. Khalil Shikaki, Director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research; Dr. Naomi Hazan, Professor of Political Sciences and former member of the Israeli Knesset; and Gaith al-Omari, Senior Research Fellow at the New America Foundation and former Senior Advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The conference, to be held on the campus of Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Conn., will be sponsored by CCSU, the Jewish Academic Network for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, the American Task Force on Palestine, and the Geneva Initiative - North America.

Speakers’ topics include, but are not limited to, research in:  social and psychological factors in the conflict; historical, philosophical, and theological issues; economic factors and cooperation; demographic realities and solutions; geographic obstacles to peace; and negotiations – models, perceptions and strategies.

Further information about the conference is available at the website http://www.pathways2peace.org <http://www.pathways2peace.org/> or by e-mailing Professor Salinas at salinasm@ccsu.edu.

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