European Terrorism Past and Present
Kenneth F. Ledford, Ph.D., J.D.- Associate Professor of History and Law, Case Western Reserve University
Friday November 2, 2007
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Crawford Hall – Room 9
Inamori Center
Case Western Reserve University
Americans appear to think terrorism is something new and imported – in spite of events such as the Oklahoma City bombing. From the IRA to Spain’s ETA; French Algerians to the Italian Red Brigade; Europeans have far more experience with such threats.
This Fall is the 30th anniversary of the dramatic events of Fall 1977, when elements of the Red Army faction in Germany engaged in a spectacular wave of terrorist acts in an attempt to free the leaders of the group, Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhoff, from Stammheim prison. Professor Ledford has organized a conference, film screening, and other events to consider what we can learn from that experience. He will give a preview, and lead discussion of what we might learn from the past, at our gathering.
The Friday Lunch is a brown-bag event open to all. Cookies and some beverages are provided
The remainder of this e-mail reports what we know about the schedule for the rest of the semester. We will be sending out announcements each week. If you would prefer not to receive the announcements, please inform Dr. Andrew Lucker, Associate Director of the Center for Policy Studies, by e-mail (andrew.lucker@case.edu).
About Our Guest
Kenneth Ledford is a social historian of modern Germany, from 1789 to the present. His research interests focus primarily upon processes of class formation, particularly the emergence and decline of the profound influence of the educated, liberal middle-class of education, the Bildungsbürgertum. The salient ideology of this social group was classical liberalism, whose vocabulary both shaped and was shaped by the primary social institution of the Bürgertum, law and the legal order. Thus, he has written about German lawyers in private practice, and his present work is on a book about the Prussian judiciary between 1848 and 1918; in all his work, a clearer analysis of the complex interplay among state, civil society, and the ideology of the state ruled by law (Rechtsstaat) remains the goal. Kenneth Ledford’s teaching interests extend beyond German history since 1789 to include the history of the European middle classes, the history of the professions, European legal history, other processes of class formation including German and European labor history, as well as the history of European international relations and diplomatic history. He enjoys interdisciplinary intellectual work by belonging to the faculties of the College of Arts and Sciences as well as the School of Law, and by participating in both the International Studies and German Studies programs within the College.
Friday Lunch and Other Public Affairs Upcoming Topics and Speakers:
November 9: Jane Platten, Director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, on Can the machines work, securely? Will the poll-workers know how to operate them? Will new rules about identification deprive people of their right to vote?: A Post Election Report.
November 16: Journalistic Ethics. Ted Gup, Shirley Wormser Professor of Journalism at Case Western Reserve University and Chris Sherridan, former associate editor and award-winning editorial writer and columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and special assistant to CWRU President Barbara Snyder
November 23: Thanksgiving Break
November 30: Nico Lacetara, Assistant Professor of Economics, will talk about, “What Motivates Blood Donors?”
December 7: TBA
The Friday Lunch will resume for the Spring semester on January 18, with Robert Strassfeld, Professor of Law, leading a discussion on ‘How to End a War.
The Friday Lunch discussions are held on the lower (ground) level of
Crawford Hall. Visitors with mobility issues may find it easiest to take advantage of special arrangements we have made. On most Fridays, a few parking spaces in the V.I.P. lot in between Crawford Hall and Amasa Stone Chapel are held for participants in the lunch discussion.
Visitors then can avoid walking up the hill to the first floor of Crawford by entering the building on the ground level, through the garage area under the building. The further door on the left in that garage will be left unlocked during the period before the Friday lunch. On occasion, parking will be unavailable because of other university events.
For more information about these and other Center for Policy Studies programs, please see http://policy.case.edu.
