Public talk on Israel-Hamas War: Eastern professor to give historical context
Willimantic, CT (10/13/2023) — A historian and expert on the Arab-Israeli conflict at Eastern Connecticut State University will give a public talk on the Israel-Hamas War on Oct. 18 at 3 p.m. at Eastern Connecticut State University in the David Carter Science Building, Room 104.
Caitlin Carenen, a history professor with expertise on the United States' involvement in the Middle East, will speak about the history of the conflict in a lecture titled "What Just Happened and Why it Matters." Her talk will offer historical context for the current conflict and a discussion of current events.
"My goal for this lecture is to provide a service to the community by briefly outlining the history of the (Arab-Israeli) conflict," said Carenen. "My goal is not to teach people what to think, but to provide much needed context to help people have an informed sense of what is happening and to discuss potential ramifications for the geo-politics of the region and U.S.-Middle East relations."
Carenen is the author of the books "An Introductory History of the United States in the Middle East" (June 2021) and "The Fervent Embrace: Liberal Protestants, Evangelicals, and Israel" (2012). She has written many articles on U.S.-Israeli relations, the Holocaust and Zionism. She also has presented at national and international conferences on the history of U.S. responses to terrorism. She held two fellowships focused on terrorism and Israeli studies, including research trips to Israel and the West Bank, and she has lived in Jerusalem to conduct research.
A Distinguished Professor at Eastern, this past April she presented at the President's Panel on U.S. Foreign Policy at Nichols College. She has held academic fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Brandeis University's Schusterman Institute for Israel Studies and at the Jacob Rader Marcus Center for American Jewish Archives at Hebrew Union College. She was an academic fellow for terrorism studies with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
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Eastern Connecticut State University is the state of Connecticut's public liberal arts university, serving upwards of 4,000 students annually on its Willimantic campus. In addition to attracting students from 160 of Connecticut's 169 towns, Eastern also draws students from 30 states and eight countries. A residential campus offering 41 majors and 68 minors, Eastern offers students a strong liberal arts foundation grounded in a variety of applied learning opportunities. Ranked among the top 20 public institutions in the North by U.S. News & World Report in its 2022-23 Best Colleges ratings, Eastern has also been awarded 'Green Campus' status by the Princeton Review 13 years in a row. For more information, visit www.easternct.edu.