Lawrence University Lecture Series Opens with Addresses on Ethnic Clashes in Russia, Racial Diversity Challenges in Europe

APPLETON, WIS. -- Ethnic conflicts in the former Soviet Union and the challenges of racial diversity facing Europe will be the focus of a pair of addresses opening Lawrence University's upcoming lecture series, "Race Ethnicity and Nationality in Changing Societies."

University of Wisconsin political scientist Mark Beissinger opens the series Monday, Jan. 8, with the address, "Ethnic Conflicts and Democracy in Russia and its Neighbors." Robert Lieberman, associate professor of political science and public affairs at Columbia University, presents, "Politics of Equality and Welfare in Western Democracies," Wednesday, Jan. 10. Both lectures will be held at 7 p.m. in Science Hall, Room 102 and are free and open to the public.

Beissinger will examine some of the more than 150 different ethnic conflicts that have erupted in the former Soviet Union since the collapse of communism and discuss why Russia's wars in Chechnia and Tajikistan are different from those other ethnic conflicts. He also will examine some of the long-term challenges nationalizing states throughout the Eurasian region pose to minority rights.

The founding director of the UW's Center for Russia, East Europe and Central Asia, Beissinger is the author of four books, including the forthcoming "Nationalist Mobilization and the Collapse of the Soviet State."

Lieberman's address will focus on the relatively new struggles Europe has faced as a result of its growing cultural diversity, including racism, discrimination, inequality, isolation and racial violence. He will discuss how European countries, particularly France and Great Britain, have addressed some of the political and policy challenges of racial diversity and why they have arrived at different solutions to similar problems.

A graduate of Yale University who earned his Ph.D. at Harvard University, Lieberman joined the faculty at Columbia in 1994 and is the author of the 1998 book, "Shifting the Color Line: Race and the American Welfare State."