The World Affairs Forum at Seton Hill University will host a presentation by internationally recognized expert on Afghanistan Dr. Thomas Gouttierre April 17 at 8 p.m. in room 308 of the Administration Building on Seton Hill’s Greensburg, Pa. campus. The lecture, titled “Afghanistan: Why Did the Crossroads of Asia Become the Training Ground for Global Terrorism?” is free and open to the public.

Dr. Thomas E. Gouttierre serves as the Dean of International Studies and Programs at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), and as the Director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at UNO. Prior to assuming his present position in 1974, he lived and worked for nearly ten years in Afghanistan. While in Afghanistan, Gouttierre served as a Peace Corps Volunteer, a Fulbright Fellow, and Executive Director of the Fulbright Foundation. Gouttierre was seconded by the US Department of State to serve as Senior Political Affairs Officer on the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission to Afghanistan in 1996/1997. He served as a member of the International Rescue Committee’s Citizens Commission on Afghanistan Refugees from 1988-1993. Gouttierre has testified on various topics related to Afghanistan, US-Pakistani Relations, International Terrorism, and Human Rights before hearings of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the US House of Representatives Committee on International Relations. He has also testified on Afghanistan and Human Rights Issues in hearings before committees of the British Parliament, the French National Assembly, the Norwegian Storting, and the UN Select Committee on Human Rights. Since 1986, Gouttierre has served on the US -Russian (formerly Soviet) Task Force (Dartmouth Conference) on Regional Conflicts. He is a Board Member of the International Institute for Sustained Dialogue. Gouttierre speaks, reads, and writes Afghan Persian (Dari), Iranian Persian (Farsi), and Tajikistani Persian; he has also studied Arabic, French, German, Latin, Russian, and Spanish. His publications include numerous articles about Afghanistan society, culture, and politics; a co-authored, two-volume language textbook, Dari for Foreigners; a co-authored Bibliography of Persian Works in English; original Dari poetry; and a variety of magazine and newspaper articles on other international topics. He was the project director for the development of the 23,000-word Dari-English Dictionary.

The JoAnne Boyle World Affairs Forum was named by the University faculty and is dedicated to Seton Hill University President JoAnne Boyle, who consistently encourages “every member of the academic community to be informed global citizens.” The forum series brings speakers and artists to Westmoreland County to address global issues.

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Contacts:

Dr. John Spurlock, Chair, Division of Humanities
724-830-1021 / spurlock@setonhill.edu

Becca Baker, Associate Director of Media Relations
724-830-1069 / 724-689-3599 (cell) / bbaker@setonhill.edu