Tentative list of speakers and dates: Arab-Israeli Conflict Presidential Dream Course

This post was last updated 2/23/2011. 


Lecture titles have been added for some of the speakers, and will be updated for the others once the information becomes available. 


Here is the list of speakers as of 1/12/2011. This list is subject to change. Please check back often.


Note: students taking this course for credit need to make themselves available on the dates of the lectures (even if they don't fall on Mondays or Wednesdays), at the very least from 5 to 8pm. This is one of the course's requirements. See more about this in the previous post. 


Currently, all lectures are scheduled for 6pm on the dates listed below. They are free and open to the public. No need to RSVP.




Event Posponed, new date TBA. Wednesday, 2/9  - Ambassador Michael Oren, Ambassador of the State of Israel to the United States. 
Note: This event will be a President's Associates Dinner and seating will be available by invitation only. More details will be provided in class. Location TBA.




Monday, 2/28 - Professor Kenneth Stein, William E. Schatten Professor of Contemporary Middle Eastern History and Israeli Studies at Emory University, and the director of the Institute for the Study of Modern Israel, also at Emory.


Lecture title: American Foreign Policy: Adjusting to a Shifting Middle East Landscape


Location: Sam Noble Museum of Natural History, 2401 Chautauqua Ave, Norman, in the Kerr Auditorium.




Thursday, 3/3 - Ophir Pines-Paz, former Israeli Minister of Interior and Minister of Science, Culture, and Sport, and former Member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament) from the Labor Party.


Lecture title: The Peace Process: is the Age of Bilateral Talks Over?


Location: Associates Room, Oklahoma Memorial Union, 3rd floor. Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave, Norman. 
note: venue has changed!


Wednesday, 3/9 - Professor Ussama Makdisi, Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair in Arabic Studies and Professor of History at Rice University

Lecture title: Faith Misplaced: The Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations

Location: Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave, Norman. 

Talk will start at 5pm.

Monday, 4/4 - Elias Muhanna, author of the blog qifanabki.com about Lebanon, and a PhD candidate at Harvard University.

Lecture title: Adventures in Demography/Democracy: Prospects for Electoral Reform in Lebanon


Location: Associates Room, Oklahoma Memorial Union, 3rd floor.


Monday, 4/11 Monday 4/18 Wednesday 4/20 - Ambassador Maen Areikat, Chief PLO Representative to the United States
note: date has changed twice!
Location: Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave, Norman. 


Monday, 5/2 - Dr. Martin Kramer, senior fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem, President-designate of Shalem College (in formation), and the Wexler-Fromer Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.


Location: Scholars Room, Oklahoma Memorial Union, 3rd floor.


Note: the last lecture takes place on "dead week." According to university policy, events may be scheduled for dead week 30 days or more in advance. Students taking the course will be expected to attend this lecture. 

Presidential Dream Course - Spring 2011

Update: the schedule of speakers for "The Arab-Israeli Conflict" Presidential Dream Course will be posted here by mid-December. The Syllabus for the course should be available on this website by New Year's.

The course "The Arab-Israeli Conflict" will be taught as a Presidential Dream Course in the spring semester of 2011. This means a number of speakers will be coming to campus throughout the semester. Each speaker will give a public lecture, and those taking the course will also get to meet with him/her during class time.

Important information for those considering to take the course - read this before enrolling:


The University and I are investing time and resources in inviting guest speakers and making this course a memorable learning experience about the Conflict. Public lectures will be an inseparable part of this course, and will take place in the afternoons/evenings. If you choose to register for this class, please make sure your schedule allows you to attend the lectures. Attendance will be taken at all lectures, and will be an integral part of the final grade. Missing more than one public lecture will not allow you to earn a passing grade for the course. 


The class will meet twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays, 1:30-2:45. Public lectures, as much as possible, will be scheduled on one of these two days. The schedule of speakers will be posted on this website sometime in November. If registering for this class before the schedule of public lectures is available, please check back to make sure you can make it to lectures. If your schedule cannot in any way fit into the program, you may want to consider taking this course sometime in the future, or come see me and we'll talk about it. 

Old Posts Removed

Thank you for your interest in our course's website. The old posts from this past semester have been removed for now. New content will be up in January, 2011, in preparation for the spring semester.

In 2011, the "Arab-Israeli Conflict" course will be taught as a Presidential Dream Course. More info about it, including schedules for guest speakers, will be made available here sometime around December, 2010.

Until then, please feel free to browse the links to your left.