Turkish ally in Iraq, Syria conflict subject of discussion

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Oya Dursun-Özkanca

• Jacob Appel
• Henry Hart
• Patrick Lawler

ELIZABETHTOWN, PA (01/07/2015)(readMedia)-- With the conflicts in Iraq and Syria brought to our attentions again and again, perhaps no other U.S. ally is in a more immediate spotlight than Turkey. With this in mind, Elizabethtown College's Dr. Oya Dursun-Özkanca, assistant professor of political science and director of the College's International Studies minor, presents "Drag and Tug: Middle East Conflicts from a Turkish Perspective" at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13, at the College's Bowers Writers House.

Dursan-Özkanca explores recent developments in Iraq and Syria and talks about the implications on Turkish domestic and foreign policies.

She earned her doctorate at University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include trans-Atlantic security, peace-building operations and the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). She wrote a number of scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals, such as European Security, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, Civil Wars, and Perspectives on European Politics and Society.

Additional free events this winter and spring are held at Bowers Writers House, unless otherwise noted:

11 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11

"Humanities and the Richness of Being: A Life Dynamic with Dr. Jacob Appel"

in Leffler Chapel and Performance Center

What does it mean to live a rich life? What does it mean to have a dynamic background? Is the path to happiness laid with bricks of only one type, style or design? Dr. Jacob Appel, the Bowers Writers House Scholar-in-Residence, shares his vast appreciation for the kind of life his own experiences -- of science, art and law -- have given a perspective of the world full of depth and passion.

8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13

Fiction Reading with Scholar-in-Residence Jacob Appel

Appel's first novel, The Man Who Wouldn't Stand Up, won the 2012 Dundee International Book Award and was published by Cargo. His short story collection, Scouting for the Reaper, won the 2012 Hudson Prize and was published by Black Lawrence Press in 2014. His most recent books include a novel, The Biology of Luck, and an essay collection, Phoning Home.

Read more about Appel: http://www.jacobmappel.com/

8 p.m. Thursday, February 19

Poetry Reading with Dr. Henry Hart

Poet and biographer Dr. Henry Hart reads from his award-winning work.

The Mildred and J.B. Hickman Professor of Humanities at The College of William and Mary, Hart is the author of four collections of poems, a biography of James Dickey and critical books on Robert Lowell, Seamus Heaney and Geoffrey Hill. He is one of the founding editors of Verse magazine, a publication that longtime New Yorker poetry editor Alice Quinn called, "the best magazine...that readers of poetry and editors of poetry can turn to discover contemporary poets of the English language fully represented."

Read more about Hart: http://www.wm.edu/as/english/facultystaff/hart_h.php

8 p.m. Thursday, March 19

Fiction Reading with Patrick Lawler

With a soft, poetic grace Patrick Lawler is capable of creating an amazing pastiche of place, people and time.

Patrick Lawler's novel Rescuers of Skydivers Search Among the Clouds was the winner of the Ronald Sukenick American Book Review Innovative Fiction Prize (2012) and the CNY Book Award for Fiction (2013). In 2014, Four Way Books published a collection of his short stories, The Meaning of If.

Read more about Lawler: http://www.esf.edu/faculty/lawler/

Contact: Jesse Waters at writershouse@etown.edu or 717-689-3945.

Bowers Writers House at Elizabethtown College, 840 College Hill Lane, was created with a generous gift by Kenneth L. '59 and Rosalie E. '58 Bowers to support a culture of creative curiosity and foster a new sense of excitement and enthusiasm for intellectual diversity. The Bowers Writers House is an interdisciplinary venue for presentation, performance, expression and study. The programs-from dramatic readings to interactive panels to musical performances-offer a dynamic variety of enjoyable and informative experiences.

Bowers Writers House: www.etown.edu/centers/writershouse/

Read about additional events at Elizabethtown College.

Elizabethtown College, located in historic Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is a private coed institution offering more than four dozen liberal arts, fine and performing arts, science and engineering, business, communications and education degrees.

Learn more: www.etown.edu/about/

Media Contact:

Elizabeth Harvey

Communications Manager

Marketing and Communications

Elizabethtown College

harveye@etown.edu

717-361-6412 (o)

717-371-2631 (c)

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