Global Flash Points: Clash of Cultures
“The 2005 Frank Church conference on “Global Flash Points: Clash of Cultures,” will be held November 3, in joint sponsorship with the Cenarussa Center, the Idaho Council for History Education, and the Boise Public Schools. Speakers, to date, include Dr. Samuel Pisar, an international lawyer and Holocaust survivor; Ambassador Paul Heinbecker, former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations and political advisor to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney; and Dr. John Habib, Middle East scholar and diplomat-in-residence at Michigan State University.”
“The daylong conference runs from 8:30am – 4:00pm, with Dr. Pisar’s speech at 7:00pm, all in the BSU Jordan Ballroom. The conference is free and open to the public, but registration is required for the luncheon. Please contact Garry Wenske at 426-2941 or garrywenske@boisestate.edu for details.”
Keynote Address by Samuel Pisar (news release)
2005 Frank Church Conference on Global Flash Points:
RENOWNED INTERNATIONAL LAWYER AND HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR TO KEYNOTE FRANK CHURCH CONFERENCE AT BOISE STATE
International Lawyer and Holocaust Survivor Samuel Pisar to Give Keynote Address
Samuel Pisar, a world-renowned international lawyer and one of the youngest survivors of the Holocaust, will be a keynote speaker at the 22nd annual Frank Church Conference on Public Affairs. This year’s conference, “Global Flash Points: Clash of Cultures,” will be Thursday, Nov. 3, in the Boise State University Jordan Ballroom. The daylong conference runs from 8:30 a.m-4 p.m.; Pisar will speak at 7 p.m. The conference is free and open to the public.
Pisar was 10 years old when Hitler and Stalin invaded his native Poland. After two years of Soviet captivity and four years in Auschwitz and other death camps, he emerged at age 16 as the only survivor of his family and his school.
Pisar resumed his education in Australia, and later earned doctorates from Harvard and the Sorbonne. In 1961 he was made a U.S. citizen by an act of Congress. Today, he practices international law in New York, London and Paris, where he lives with his wife, Judith.
Pisar is the founder-president of Yad Vashem France, administrator of the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah, and a trustee of the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. He has lectured extensively throughout the world, including the Economic Forum in Davos, the Council of Foreign Relations in New York, and the Commission on Human Rights in Paris. His books, including “Of Blood and Hope” and “Coexistence and Commerce,” have been published in 20 languages.
Other principal conference speakers include:
- Paul Heinbecker, former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations, and an adviser to former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
- John Habib, diplomat in residence at Michigan State University, and head of the Center for American Studies at Mohamad V University in Rabat, Morocco
- Greg Raymond, Frank Church Professor of International Relations at Boise State.
This year’s conference is presented in partnership with the Cenarussa Center at Boise State and the Boise Independent School District.