Rami George Khouri, editor at large, The Daily Star, Beirut, Lebanon and Director, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, will speak at La Sierra University, Monday, April 28, 2008, at 5:00 pm in Cossentine Hall 100. A campus map can be found at http://www.lasierra.edu/resources/campusmap/.

Khouri will present a lecture titled, “Breaking the Mid East Cycle of War, Occupation, Terror and Resistance: Challenges the Next American President Will Face.”

Khouri is a Palestinian-Jordanian and U.S. citizen whose family resides in Beirut, Amman, and Nazareth. He is the Director of the Issam Fares Institute of Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut as well as editor-at-large of the Beirut-based Daily Star newspaper, published throughout the Middle East with the International Herald Tribune. He is an internationally syndicated political columnist and author and can often be heard on NPR as well as other major network news media.

Khouri has been a Harvard University fellow and visiting scholar at Stanford University. In November 2006, he was the co-recipient of the Pax Christi International Peace Award for his efforts to bring peace and reconciliation to the Middle East. His is one of today’s major reasoned and reasonable voices addressing issues in this troubled region of the world.

A person of broad interests, Khouri has published widely in the areas of public policy, Middle Eastern diplomacy, and the archaeology of Jordan. His long-standing friendship with archaeologists in Jordan has contributed to the dissemination of archaeological updates in the popular press, making the archaeology of the region available to the public.

Khouri is a long-time friend of La Sierra University archaeology professors Lawrence Geraty and Doug Clark. Geraty is also the university’s president emeritus. The three came to know each other between 12 and 15 years ago. Khouri, then a journalist for the Jordan Times, often wrote about Clark’s and Geraty’s archaeological projects in the area. Khouri, who also owned a company that published booklets on archaeology, provided Clark and Geraty with the latest information on important sites in the region, Clark said.

Khouri’s upcoming lecture contributes to La Sierra’s global values, Clark said. The university offers honors students learning opportunities in the Mid East, pursues international archaeological investigations and conducts humanitarian projects around the world.

“[Khouri’s arrival] also speaks to the sorts of influential people with whom the faculty, administrators and others have been in touch over the years,” Clark said.

La Sierra’s School of Religion and Students for Social Justice are sponsoring the lecture.

PR Contact: Larry Becker
Executive Director of University Relations
La Sierra University
Riverside, California
951.785.2460 (voice)