Whether you’re a well-informed citizen or you think the Arab Spring is what they put in mattresses in the Middle East, you can walk away from Bentley Hall today feeling intelligent, educated and probably anxious.
At 3 p.m. today, the Center for International Studies will host Dr. Amitav Acharya, a political-science specialist known for his work in Southeast Asia.
Acharya will present a speech titled “The Arab Spring and the Asian Summer: Democracy and Its Discontents in a Rising Asia.”
Acharya is the UNESCO Chair in Transitional Challenges and Governance and Chair of the Association of Southeastern Asian Nations Studies Center.
Karla Guinigundo, Associate Director for the Center for International Studies, said the center hosts a series of four to five forums each quarter. Acharya’s forum will be the last of this quarter’s series.
The theme of this quarter’s forums was the Arab Spring, a term used to describe the unrest that often accompanies the arrival of springtime in the Middle East.
The talks focused on the recent wave of democracy movements and demonstrations in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya as well as how the increased activity affects neighboring regions and the world.
Acharya’s speech will address how the upset has affected and will affect Asia in particular.
“I am excited about the opportunity to speak at Ohio University,” he said. “This would be my first visit there, and I see this as a timely speech given the developments in the Middle East and North Africa and their potential
global implications.”
Guinigundo expressed excitement about both the prestige of the speaker and the subject matter of the presentation.
“I think it’s nice in that it ties in the Arab Spring theme with Ohio University’s strength in Southeast Asian studies, so it’s sort of complimenting both of those,”
said Guinigundo.
The forum will be held in 124 Bentley Hall. Though the speech is geared toward graduate students and undergraduate students studying political science or international studies, it is open to anyone who wishes to attend.
js102210@ohiou.edu
