The situation in Iraq has introduced a tangle of political, social and ethical concerns. Such concerns will be discussed during Forum on Iraq, a three-day event beginning Thu., Oct. 2 and hosted by the 2003 Dr. Irma M. Parhad Summer Studentship participants. The forum will present the work of the participant’s summer long research activities involving Iraq and its circumstances.
"The idea of the project was to take a broad, holistic look at a certain conflict," said Janis Goldie, a Studentship participant whose research focused on embedded journalism during the war in Iraq.
"We came at it with the program’s principles in mind, the interdisciplinary look at a conflict in context of human health and welfare. The other students, some from law, some from medicine, studied topics which varied from Canadian foreign policy towards Iraq, to the psycho-social effects of war on children."
The forum is divided into sessions covering the major categories researched by the students, and will feature lectures by various guest speakers.
"One of the student researchers is a refugee from Iraq," said Goldie. "She’ll be doing a presentation Saturday morning on her experiences as a refugee to remind us that this is not just about politics and international law."
As well, the forum will feature interactive workshops facilitated by the research students.
"Through the workshops, there are two basic questions which we want the audience to focus on," said Goldie. "Why should we care? What can we do? Rather than overwhelm people, we want to encourage them to care about these things. Social activism, in some regards, is sort of the end goal of the workshops. We’d like people to be aware and get involved."
The Forum on Iraq will be held at the Rozsa Centre. Registration is not required, but seating is limited. A concluding cultural event featuring Iraqi music, food and art is scheduled for Saturday afternoon. For a complete forum program, visit http://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/faculties/medicine/PARHAD/student-2003-forum.htm.