Landis to present how to make sense of the Syrian conflict Landis to present how to make sense of the Syrian conflict

The David and Sally Jackman Lecture Series and the WSU Department of Anthropology will present "Religion, Ethnicity and War in the Levant: How to Make Sense of the Syrian Conflict?," at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26, in 100 Lindquist Hall. The featured speaker is Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies and associate professor at the University of Oklahoma.

To make sense of the sectarian and ethnic strife that has swept over Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Israel-Palestine over the last several decades one must place it in the context of nation building. Since the Ottoman Empire plunged into war in 1914 and was destroyed, the region has seen a "great sorting out." Multiethnic and multireligious societies have been destroyed. New, more homogeneous and less colorful nations are taking shape.

Landis has lived in Syria for four years and 14 years in the Middle East. He is past President of the Syrian Studies Association and a frequent analyst on radio and TV, appearing recently on the PBS News Hour, the "Charlie Rose Show," NPR and the BBC.

He writes "SyriaComment.com," a daily newsletter on Syrian politics that attracts some 200,000 page reads per month. Landis earned his master's degree from Harvard and doctorate from Princeton.