May 7, 2007

UCSB Critical Issues Conference Explores Torture and the Future

Torture and the Future, the Critical Issues in America series at the University of California, Santa Barbara, continues on May 18 with a conference featuring humanities scholars from across the country.

Titled "Torture and the Future," the conference begins at 10 a.m. in UCSB's MultiCultural Center. It is free, and the public is invited to attend any and all events.

Speakers and their topics include:

· Barbara Harlow, visiting professor and acting chair of English and comparative literature at the American University in Cairo and the Louann and Larry Temple Centennial Professor of English Literature at the University of Texas, Austin. Her topic: "Tortured Thoughts: The Example Set by Ruth First from her Interrogation in 1963 to her Assassination in 1982"

· Colin Joan Dayan, Robert Penn Warren Professor of the Humanities at Vanderbilt University, who will speak on "Due Process and Lethal Confinement"

· Darius Rejali, professor of political science at Reed College, discussing "Torture, Democracy and Our Future"

· Lisa Haijar, associate professor and chair of law and society at UCSB, speaking on "Lawyering for Humanity: Fighting Torture as the Cause of the Era"

· George Huntsinger, the Hazel Thompson McCord Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, who will discuss "Torture Is the Ticking Time-Bomb: Why the Necessity Defense Fails"

The Critical Issues in America series is an endowed program in the College of Letters

& Science at UCSB. Events in the series examine relevant social topics from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Previous series have focused on environmental issues and policy reform; media ownership; women; employment and globalization; violence in America; and ethnic studies.

More information about the conference, including a schedule of speakers, is available at www.complit.ucsb.edu/projects/tortureandthefuture/index.html

About UC Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a leading research institution that also provides a comprehensive liberal arts learning experience. Our academic community of faculty, students, and staff is characterized by a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration that is responsive to the needs of our multicultural and global society. All of this takes place within a living and learning environment like no other, as we draw inspiration from the beauty and resources of our extraordinary location at the edge of the Pacific Ocean.