Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009
Whitman's Global Studies Initiative is sponsoring a symposium on “Torture and the Human Body” on Saturday, Feb. 28.
“Torture has emerged as a contemporary issue of great controversy in the war on terror, but it has a much longer and less visible history that has been largely forgotten,” said Shampa Biswas, associate professor of politics and director of global studies at Whitman. “This symposium will provide a way for us to think about this important issue from historical, legal and ethical standpoints in conversation with scholars and activists who have done extensive research and have put a great deal of thought into the topic.”
The symposium, which will include presentations by three authors who have written extensively on the subject of torture, will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. in Maxey Auditorium. The presentation is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Biswas at biswassa@whitman.edu.
Professors and authors Darius Rejali, Stephanie Athey and Mark Danner will present talks and answer questions at the forum.
Rejali, professor of political science, Reed College, is the author of “Democracy and Torture” (Princeton University Press, 2007). He will present “Torture and Democracy: What Now?”
Athey, associate professor of English, Lasell College, has published articles on representations of torture. She will discuss “The Torture Device: Representations in News and Law.”
Danner is an acclaimed journalist and contributor to The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books who also hold professorships at Bard College and The University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of “Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib, and the War on Terror” (New York Review of Books, 2004). He will present “When We Torture: Image Guilt Consequences.”
The presentations will last approximately 20 minutes each and a panel of Whitman students and faculty will comment on each talk. In addition, there will be time for questions and discussion from members of the audience. The panel consists of senior philosophy major Adam Chapman; junior politics major Nadim Damluji; senior English major Valerie Lopez; Julia Ireland, assistant professor of philosophy; and Tim Kaufman-Osborn, Baker Ferguson Chair of Politics and Leadership.
The Whitman College Bookstore has copies of the books by Rejali and Danner, and Athey’s published pieces on torture are available upon request.
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CONTACT: Lenel Parish, Whitman College News Service, (509) 527-5156
parishlj@whitman.edu
