WINNIPEG, MB – The University of Winnipeg will host an international one-day workshop entitled “Female Suicide Bombings: Challenges and Responses” on Friday, February 22, 2013 at the Richardson College for the Environment and Science Complex. The keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Alistair Edgar, Executive Director of the Academic Council on the United Nations System. This event is free and open to the public.
“This workshop will provide an opportunity to address the complexity and multiplicity of factors at the heart of female suicide bombings,” explained Dr. Tanya Narozhna, UWinnipeg Associate Professor, Department of Politics in the Faculty of Arts. “This includes gender, culture, religion, economy and other ‘low politics’ issues. It will expand and improve our understanding of the phenomenon, as well as offer an alternative to militaristic counter-terrorism.”
Distinguished panelists will include: Dr. Margaret Gonzalez-Perez, (Southeastern Louisiana University), Dr. Paige Eager (Hood College), Dr. David Cook (Rice University), Dr. Laura Sjoberg (University of Florida), Dr. Francine Banner (Phoenix School of Law), Dr. Tami Jacoby (University of Manitoba), Andrew Mack (Simon Fraser University), and Marc Imbeault (Royal Military College of Canada).
The workshop is sponsored by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and will bring scholars from around the world. It is expected to attract local students and community members to discuss issues surrounding political violence, with a specific focus on female suicide bombings.
Dr. Alistair D. Edgar Biography
Dr. Edgar serves as the Executive Director of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS). He is currently co-director of the Laurier Centre for Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies (LCMSDS), and Associate Professor of Political Science at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, where he has worked since 1993.
Outside of the university, Dr. Edgar is president of the New Delhi, India-based International Jurist Organization (IJO); he is a National Board member of the United Nations Association in Canada (UNAC); and sits on the board of the Canadian Landmines Foundation as representative of the LCMSDS. Dr. Edgar is an editorial board member for the Issue Briefs series, from the Center for Governance and Sustainability (University of Massachusetts Boston).
Dr. Edgar’s current research interests involve issues of transitional justice in war-to-peace transitions and post-conflict peace building. After completing his first term with ACUNS in 2008, he conducted sabbatical research fieldwork on this subject in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Kosovo, and northern Uganda during 2008-10.
WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
9:00 am – 10:15 am
Opening remarks & Keynote Address
- Dr. Alistair Edgar, Executive Director of the Academic Council on the United Nations System
Followed by a coffee break
10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Panel One – International, Domestic and Religious Dimensions of Female Suicide Bombings
- Dr. Margaret Gonzalez-Perez, (Southeastern Louisiana University) “Female Suicide Bombers in Domestic and International Terrorist Groups”
- Dr. Paige Eager (Hood College), “The PKK: The Strategy of Using Female Suicide Bombers”
- Dr. David Cook (Rice University), “Problems with Female Suicide Attackers from a Muslim Religious Perspective”
Followed by lunch break
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Panel Two – Gender, Trauma and the ‘Right to Fight’
- Dr. Laura Sjoberg (University of Florida), “Experiencing Suicide Terrorism: A Critical Feminist Approach”
- Dr. Francine Banner (Phoenix School of Law), “‘She Was Just a Chechen’: Exploring the Female Suicide Bomber as a Site of Collective Suffering”
- Dr. Tami Jacoby (University of Manitoba), “Women Warriors: Between Sex and the Sword”
Followed by a coffee break
2:45 pm
Panel Three – Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism
- Andrew Mack (Simon Fraser University), “Is Terrorism Really a Threat to Global Security?”
- Marc Imbeault (Royal Military College of Canada), “Female suicide bombings: A human challenge for counter-terrorism”
