Penn State grad to speak about policy challenges in Christianity in the Middle East
Date & Time: April 22, 2015 | 08:00 PM – 08:00 PM
Location: Lewis Katz Building 116
Gregory Kruczek, a 2009 SIA graduate currently studying for his doctorate degree at Virginia Tech, will present "(Re)imagined Communities: Christians and the search for a place and identity in the post-Arab Spring Middle East as part of as part of the Penn State School of International Affairs' spring colloquium (INTAF 590).
Kruczek graduated from Penn State in 2005 with a B.A. in Political Science and B.S. in Professional Golf Management. During time as an undergraduate, spent time in Cairo, Egypt and Beirut, Lebanon studying Arabic and each state's political culture. In Fall 2006 completed intensive Arabic program at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, CA. Worked as Research Assistant at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies (Arlington, VA) from 2006-2007. In 2007 served as Information Officer at Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. After a brief stint in Beirut in late-2007, returned to Penn State for his Masters, graduating from the School of International Affairs in 2009. Master's paper dealt with confessional politics in Lebanon. From 2010-2012 was a lead researcher in Penn State's College of Information Science and Technology on the counter-insurgency component of a Multi-University Research Initiative sponsored by the U.S. Army Research Lab. In 2011 joined the faculty of Susquehanna University as an instructor in the Department of Political Science, teaching classes on world politics and comparative domestic politics. In January 2013 began pursuing Ph.D in Government and International Affairs at Virginia Tech's Washington, D.C. campus under the guidance of Dr. Ariel Ahram. Dissertation topic is the Christian response to the Arab Spring
Retired U.S. Ambassador and SIA professor Dennis Jett organizes the semester-long event to bring thought leaders on topics from food security to terrorism. The program features 14 speakers and the topics vary depending on the current issues of the day. The lectures are open to the public and made available via webcast.
The course surveys some major transnational social problems confronting the world, such as: climate change; communicable diseases; conflict and arms proliferation; access to education; financial instability; governance and corruption; malnutrition and hunger; migration; sanitation and access to clean water; and subsidies and trade barriers.