By Danielle Bettendorf Staff writer
Former Susquehanna professor Samer N. Abboud will give a lecture entitled “Drivers, Dynamics & Possible Futures of the Syrian Conflict” on Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. in Faylor Lecture Hall.
Students may find connections between the ongoing conflict in Syria and legal studies at Susquehanna.
“[Abboud’s] talk is an ideal example of what we try to do: bring [in] speakers who are writing and thinking about real events, real social problems, things that are happening,” said Michael Smyth, director of the Arlin M. Adams Center for Law and Society.
“Somehow that includes some relationship to the law, but you can tell the law is not what he’s really talking about. He’s talking about the Syrian conflict, but it has other implications that are [legally related],” Smyth added.
“I hope they’re going to get a clearer understanding of the fundamental issues surrounding the demise of Syria,” said Dave Ramsaran, professor of sociology.
“Between now and November, Syria is going to be at the center of the presidential issue [of] immigrants. Syria and ISIS and all of those things are going to be central, because one of the issues of the American population is concerned about is security,” he added.
Abboud also has experience with the Middle East, which will factor into his lecture.
“This professor has worked in Syria and the Middle East for all of his academic life,” Ramsaran said. “He is Canadian by birth, but his parents are of Lebanese descent… I think his firsthand knowledge of the area is really going to set it [apart].”
Ramsaran said the Syrian refugee crisis has also played a large role in the upcoming presidential election.
“What really [sets] this one [apart] is that Syria has been playing a critical role in how we look at foreign policy, and is at the center of the whole discussion of refugees, and what we’re going to do with refugees and do we let Syrian refugees in or not?” Ramsaran continued.
Abboud is the first of two speakers the Arlin M. Adams Center is hosting this year. The second will be Paul Kaplan, a professor from San Diego State University, who will be talking about “death penalty localism” and the biases that come up during the legal process of execution.
“The Adams Center is tasked with bringing speakers to campus who speak in the area of law and society very broadly construed,” said Smyth.
“It’s not the kind of law you would study in law school, and it’s not sociology like you would study in a [sociology] department. It’s the intersection of the two: law and society focuses on the lived experience of the law, as opposed to law in the books,” he added.
“Law and society focuses on law and action: what’s it like in our lives,” Smyth continued. “If you think about it, it’s actually interesting because that’s where the law acquires meaning. You can write anything you want into law, but until it’s implemented, you [don’t] know what it actually meant or what effect it’s going to have.”
While the topics of the lectures vary, Smyth believes the heart of the talks will come out in the audience reactions and interaction.
“The question and answer session is at least as interesting, if not more interesting, than the talk,” Smyth said.
“People really get engaged with these topics. Our speakers challenge people to think about problems in new and innovative ways—things that people may have already made up their minds about, or that they take for granted, and they present them in new ways that allows folks to explore new approaches,” he added.