Events

Waiting for the Preacher: Obama’s America in World Religious Context

6 September 2010

Time: 6:00pm - 7:00pm

Jack Miles, Senior Fellow for Religious Affairs with the Pacific Council on International Policy and Distinguished Professor of English and Religious Studies, University of California, Irvine

Bill Clinton went to war to rescue Kosovar Muslims from Serbian Catholics and dreamed of reconciling Palestinian Muslims and Israeli Jews. George W. Bush left office embroiled in a war to reconcile Iraqi Muslims to one another. Strange errands, these, for a pair of ardently declared American Protestants! Now comes President Barack Obama, fathered by a Kenyan Muslim and raised for significant middle years by his atheist mother and a Muslim stepfather in Jakarta.

America, Islam & the 'Ground Zero Mosque'

9 September 2010

Time: 5:30pm - 6:30pm

Jack Miles, Senior Fellow for Religious Affairs with the Pacific Council on International Policy and Distinguished Professor of English and Religious Studies, University of California, Irvine

Plans to build an Islamic centre near the site of the 9/11 bombing have become a flashpoint for debate over the nature of America and its relations with Islam. Eminent American religion scholar and journalist Jack Miles argues that the conservative critics of the “ground zero mosque” are Osama Bin Laden’s best friends. The indispensable premise of the master narrative of international takfiri extremism, he argues, has been that the United States is at war with Islam. If American conservatives prevail over the Mosque, the world's Ummah (Muslim community) will conclude that Americans really do blame them for the terrorist actions of a Muslim few. Osama bin Laden would win a major tactical victory without firing a shot. The goodwill generated by Barack Obama’s speeches in Ankara and Cairo would be undermined. American efforts to improve relations with the Islamic world would be set back for years. The global stakes over a small piece of ground in Manhattan could not be higher.

Australia's Silent Film Festival

11 September 2010 - 25 September 2010

Time: 6:00pm

Once again the US Studies Centre is proud to partner Australia's Silent Film Festival, an annual showcase of classic silent films featuring live music.

This year's films from the US, Australia, France, Germany, Japan and Russia include highly acclaimed stars and directors such as Vidor, Ozu, Clair, Wiene. Boris Barnet, John Gilbert, Chaplin, Keaton and many more.

James Burnham and the Origins of American Neoconservatism

28 October 2010

Time: 12:00pm - 1:30pm

Dr Binoy Kampmark, Lecturer, Global Studies, Social Science & Planning, RMIT will be presenting on the topic "James Burnham and the Origins of American Neoconservatism".

Dr Kampmark teaches core legal courses within the Legal and Dispute Studies program for the Bachelor of Social Science at RMIT University. He has research interests in the institution of war, diplomacy, international relations, 20^th Century History and law. He has written extensively on these topics in both refereed journals and more popular media.

The Human Rights Revolution in the US: Forging a New Foreign Policy in the 1970s

22 November 2010

Time: 12:00pm - 1:30pm

Dr Barbara Keys, Senior Lecturer, School of Historical Studies, University of Melbourne will be presenting on the topic "The Human Rights Revolution in the US: Forging a New Foreign Policy in the 1970s".

Barbara Keys received her PhD in History from Harvard University in 2001. Before coming to Australia she taught at California State University in Sacramento and was a research fellow at the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. Her teaching areas include 20th century America, U.S. foreign relations, and the Cold War in global perspective.