(Photo Courtesy of COCC)
The Nancy R. Chandler Visiting Scholar Program of the Central Oregon Community College Foundation presents “Agony and Hope in the Middle East” by Nawzad Othman, former chair of the Board of Trustees of the World Affairs Council of Oregon. The event is slated for 6:30pm on Tuesday, May 24, in Wille Hall in the Coats Campus Center on the Bend Campus.
The situation in the Middle East today is tragic, scary, unpredictable and confusing. People have become almost numb to the images coming out of the region, from the brutality of ISIS, the chaos of the Arab spring, the refugee crisis and the complicated roles of the U.S. and Russia in Syria.
Othman will address such questions as “What is really going on? Why does turmoil continue to plaque this region? What are the elements to a successful U.S. strategy in the region? Are our fears and anxieties about the current state of affairs justified? Most importantly, is there hope for the people of the Middle East?”
Othman was born in Erbil, Iraq, into a Kurdish family with deep connections to the history and evolution of the Kurdistan region. His father, Ahmed Uthman, was the first governor of Erbil after independence as well as the first Kurd to become a senator in Baghdad in 1929.
Othman emigrated to the U.S. when he was 18, and earned his bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from South Dakota State University and his master’s degree in Urban and Regional Studies from Mankato State University. He served as CEO of Otak, an architecture and engineering firm, for 30 years and founded The Othman Group, an international consulting firm, in 2012.
The event is also sponsored by Brooks Resources, Deschutes Brewery, BendBroadband, ASCOCC and OSU-Cascades Student Fee Committee.
Tickets are $10 and students are free with ID card. Tickets can be purchased at www.cocc.edu/foundation/vsp.
