January 29, 2007
Lang is a retired senior officer of the U.S. Military Intelligence and U.S. Army Special Forces. He was the first director of the Defense HUMINT (Human Intelligence) Service within the Defense Intelligence Agency and also served as an intelligence specialist on the Middle East, South Asia and terrorism. He is a highly decorated veteran of several of America’s overseas conflicts, including the Vietnam War, and was the first professor of Arabic language at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.Lang is an analyst and consultant for many television and radio programs, including CNN and PBS’s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
The lecture on Monday, Feb. 5 will focus on Iraq’s place in the history and culture of the Arab world from the Middle Ages through the Ottoman, British, Hashemite and post-1958 period. Lang will discuss both the politics and anthropology of post-2003 Iraq.
The lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 6 will discuss the Islamic revelation as a continuation of the Abrahamic tradition, the forms of Islam, the principal beliefs, the roots of Islamic laws and the basis for formation of Islamic “dogma.”
Lang’s visit is sponsored by the St. Mary’s University graduate international relations program and the Fund for Judaeo-Christian Studies. Both lectures are free and open to the public. They will be held in the AT&T Center for Technology Information, just inside the Culebra entrance to the campus.
Details of the Event:
What: Public lectures presented by retired Col. W. Patrick Lang, former defense human intelligence chief
When:
Monday, Feb. 5 – Lecture on Iraq<
Tuesday, Feb. 6 - Lecture on Islam
*Both lectures begin at 7 p.m.
Where: AT&T Center for Information Technology on St. Mary's campus, Room 108
Notes: Please use the Culebra Street entrance. Parking will be available in Lot G.