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WMD and terrorism discussed in week-long symposium

The search for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) may have ended in Iraq, but they were still on the agenda this past week in a Rosenfield Symposium.

This week’s symposium addresses terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. Speakers this week both criticized and defended United States policy.

The symposium featured speakers from a variety of backgrounds and political views. Presenters and panelists included the director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a former Chief of Staff to the President’s Critical Infrastructure Protection board and a former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush.

The lectures ranged from the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea to the failures of U.S. nonproliferation policy.

Symposium topics and speakers are selected by a 14-member committee made up of seven faculty members and seven students. A stated goal of the program is to achieve a diversity of opinions and topics.

Molly Lewis ’06, a student on the committee, felt confident that this symposium would spark interest across campus. “Terrorism and weapons of mass destruction seem to be a constant source of discussion in today’s world,” she said. “This topic remains relevant [even] though we set this symposium last year.”

Though the symposium concluded with a lecture delivered by Elizabeth Turpen, she was not the originally scheduled convocation speaker. According to Lewis, the “original convocation speaker was called away to Europe for a conference on nearly the same topic and was unable to be here.”

The Rosenfield Program in Public Affairs, International Relations, and Human Rights aims to broaden the knowledge and participation of students in three core areas: public affairs, international relations and human rights.

—Brock Webb

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