Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY – Distinguished scholars will share their views on the making of modern Iraq and the ongoing occupation by American military forces in a panel discussion "Iraq: How the Past Shapes the Future" on Monday, April 27, 3-4:30 p.m., in the Monroe Lecture Center Theater, California Avenue, South Campus.

Panelists include:
•    Dr. Orit Bashkin, Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago, and author of The Other Iraq: Pluralism and Culture in Hashemite Iraq
•    Dr. Magnus Bernhardsson, Professor of History at Williams College and author of Reclaiming a Plundered Past: Archaeology and Nation Building in Modern Iraq
•    Dr. Eric Davis, Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University and author of Memories of State: Politics, History and Collective Identity in Modern Iraq
•    Dr. Bassam Yousif, Professor of Economics at Indiana State University and author of Development and Political Violence in Iraq
•    Nida al-Ahmad, Department of Political Science, the New School
This program, sponsored by The Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies Program, Department of Anthropology, and Department of History at Hofstra University, is free and open to the public. For more information please call (516) 463-5590 or email Daniel Varisco, chair of Anthropology, at daniel.varisco@hofstra.edu),

The panel is part of Define ’09: New Challenges, New Solutions, a year-long series that will examine the new presidential administration, its policies and initiatives, the challenges we currently face and ways of addressing our country's most pressing issues. Additional funding for this program is provided by The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq.

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution where students can choose from more than 145 undergraduate and more than 160 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business; engineering; communication; education, health and human services;  and honors studies, and a School of Law.