“The Middle East: The Violence of Faith” is topic of Jan. 28 University Honors Program Colloquium

Dr. Walter Casey

“The Middle East: The Violence of Faith” will be the topic of a University Honors Program Colloquium presented by Dr. Walter Casey, assistant professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University-Texarkana, on Thursday, Jan. 28, at noon in University Center 217 on the A&M-Texarkana campus, 7101 University Ave.

“Intensely held beliefs, whether political or spiritual, are at the heart of some of mankind’s worst crimes and horrors. From the mass slaughter of the Druids by Caesar to repeated pogroms, the Crusades, the Holocaust, Stalin’s purges and Pol Pot’s terror, we see time and again how faith and belief can drive the human animal into feral violence,” Dr. Casey said.

“This lecture examines the modern Middle East and the atrocities committed there invoking deities, focusing mainly on the period from 1850 to the present.”

Dr. Casey is a Fellow of the Middle East Institute, the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium (TRAC), the British Election Study, the Survey Center for Research on Elections (SCORE) and the Cooperative Campaign Analysis Project. His research is centered about political behavior, especially political violence.

The Honors Colloquia are a series of scholarly talks and presentations offered throughout the academic year.

They provide a venue for Honors students and faculty to present their research. The Honors program also brings speakers to campus from outside the university community.

The public is invited. Light refreshments will be served.