LIVE from the Middle East in Transition (Part 1)

Oct 27, 2011 - 09:00 AM-10:30 AM (Eastern)

This session will explore how we think about the choice between violence and non-violence, both in terms of how we remember the history of these movements, and in the current context of transition in the Middle East. Students will explore their personal and moral response to violence, and how they view the difference between terrorism and self defense, or between inappropriate and appropriate violence. The session will include exploration of the foundations of nonviolent movements in history, including Gandhi and Martin Luther King; as well as exploration of the right to violence as a means of self defense in the search for self determination, and the distinction between necessary violence and terrorism, including the ideas of Malcolm X, Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela. Students will explore the balance of violence and nonviolence involved in key historical transitions, such as India, South Africa, and the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, in order to better understand current resistance movements across the Middle East.