Sept. 11, 2003

Contact: David P. Dewar, Humanities and Western Civilization, (785) 864-3013.

Lecture at KU to address use of force, human rights before and after 9/11

LAWRENCE -- A noted scholar of international law, human rights, and international relations will present the inaugural lecture of the Peace and Conflict Studies Lecture Series at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16, in Woodruff Auditorium at the Kansas Union at the University of Kansas.

David Forsythe, the Charles J. Mach distinguished professor of political science at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, will discuss "The United States, the Use of Force, and Human Rights: Before and After 9/11."

Forsythe's areas of scholarship are international human rights, international law and organization, American foreign policy and international relations. He received his doctorate from Princeton University in 1968 and has written two recent books, "Human Rights and Foreign Policy" and "The United States and Human Rights." He also has co-edited, with Patrice McMahon, a book scheduled for publication this year titled "Human Rights and Human Diversity: Area Studies Revisited." He has been a consultant to the United Nations Refugee Office and was named a visiting scholar at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, a unit of the University of Galway.

"The title of Professor Forsythe's lecture is timely and provocative," said James Woelfel, director of the KU humanities and Western civilization program, which administers the peace and conflict studies minor. "It should appeal to a wide audience -- students, scholars and citizens. The lecture also will call attention to the peace and conflict studies minor in its first year at KU as a program designed to deepen awareness and understanding of the problems and possibilities of the global community."

The Peace and Conflict Studies Lecture Series is an integral part of the new peace and conflict studies minor at KU. The minor is an interdisciplinary program that enables students to examine conflict within and between societies and the ways in which humans address conflict through war, mediation, law, diplomacy, institutions and peaceful resistance. Students must complete 18 hours of coursework including research or experiential learning.