We invite you to join us for a conversation led by

Professor Joy Gordon

"INSIDE THE U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL: How the U.S. Shaped the Sanctions on Iraq"

February 6, 4:00 pm, Oakley Center Colloquium Room

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Please note that this event is open to faculty and staff.

The UN sanctions imposed on Iraq in the 1990s triggered a humanitarian crisis which continues to impact Iraq today.  How was it that an institution of global governance was itself responsible for imposing widespread human damage for over a decade?  This discussion will look at the tensions within the Security Council over this issue, and in particular the role of the United States in shaping the Security Council's decisions.

Joy Gordon (PhD, Yale; JD, Boston University Law School) is a Professor of Philosophy at Fairfield University.  Dr. Gordon teaches and researches political philosophy and ethical issues in international relations, particularly economic sanctions.  Her work has appeared in Global Governance, Ethics and International Affairs, Harper's, The Atlantic, Le Monde Diplomatique, Arab Studies Quarterly, and Yale Journal of Human Rights and Development Law.  Gordon's book, "Invisible War: The United States and the Iraq Sanctions" (Harvard University Press, 2010) was listed  by Foreign Policy as one of the best books on the Middle East published in 2010. Her newest work, "The Sword of Damocles: Revisiting the Question of Whether the United Nations Security Council is Bound by International Law," will appear this year in Chicago Journal of International Law.

If you wish to participate in this discussion, please email Krista Birch (krista.m.birch@williams.edu) to receive the reading.

Oakley Center News

Siddartha Mukherjee, (Columbia and CU/NYU Presbyterian Hospital), who gave the annual Andrew B. Weiss, MD, Lecture on Medicine and Medical Ethics in 2010, has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his book The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.

Barbara J. King of the College of William and Mary blogs about a recent Oakley Center symposium, "After Humanism," here. Information about the symposium (September 23-24, 2010), as well as conference pictures, can be found here.

Former Clark-Oakley Humanities Fellow Jonathan Katz, now head of a new visual studies program at SUNY-Buffalo, speaks out about the controversy sparked by a high-profile exhibition that he curated at the National Portrait Gallery: "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture." The exhibition received a positive review in the Washington Post.

The Oakley Center

The Oakley Center was established in 1985 to support faculty research across the humanities and social sciences, with a special emphasis on interdisciplinary work. Since that time, it has come to play a vital role in the scholarly life of Williams College. The Center provides a meeting place where faculty and administrative staff can pursue their intellectual and research interests. It sponsors many events and programs throughout the year, some exclusively for faculty and staff and others for the entire campus and the wider public. Programs especially for faculty include colloquia with distinguished visiting scholars and Center-supported faculty research and reading groups. The Center's public events include occasional conferences and the annual Richmond, Weiss, and Davis Lectures.

Williams faculty on leave may apply for Center Fellowships. The Center provides an office and research stipend. Through the Clark-Oakley Fellowship, offered in conjunction with the Research and Academic Program of the Clark Art Institute, the Center also provides an office and funding for one scholar, from outside the College, who will take part in the programs of both institutions. Each semester, about eight faculty Fellows are in residence and participate in a weekly research seminar. Through the Ruchman Fellowship program, two Williams seniors participate in the Fellows' seminar as well.

Link to Oakley Center past events, 2006-2011