October 17, 2006
Clark lecturer will relate 'Torture and the Ticking Time Bomb Scenario'
Worcester, Mass. - The International Studies Stream (ISS) program at Clark University will present "Torture and the Ticking Bomb Scenario," a public lecture by Matthew Hannah, Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Vermont, beginning at 4 p.m., Friday, Nov. 3, in the Jefferson Academic Center, Room 320.
Professor Hannah will consider such questions as: Why has the Bush administration been so reluctant to abandon the right to torture prisoners in the war on terror? Why hasn't the American public mustered sufficient outrage to force an absolute and immediate end to torture? Professor Hannah maintains that an important part of the answers to both these questions lies in a specific "geographical imagination" of the threat of terrorism constructed by the administration and the media. At the heart of this geographical imagination is the so-called "ticking bomb scenario."
Professor Hannah takes a close look at how this scenario shapes our understanding of the vulnerability of U.S. territory, and argues that Bush administration torture can be explained as a grotesque form of geographical compensation for the dangers conjured up by the ticking bomb scenario.
Professor Hannah has published widely on spatial aspects of modern forms of power. His research has centered on U.S. government attempts to gain administrative control over nomadic American Indian nations during the 19th century, and on the 19th century U.S. census as a tool of social and territorial control. He is currently researching grass-roots census boycott movements in West Germany during the 1980s.
The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, please call the International Studies Stream office at 508-793-7181.
The International Studies Stream is an innovative option within Clark's Program of Liberal Studies, which offers students the opportunity to structure their broad liberal-arts education by focusing on international themes and issues.