Those of you in the DC area have another chance to see Tom tomorrow, this time at the Smithsonian, on the Mall.

You are invited to attend a seminar on “Culture and Security,” organized by our own Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. This seminar will be held on March 7th on the National Mall at the Dillon S. Ripley Auditorium from 2:00 to 4:30pm. Attached please find further details on the seminar and its participants.

This seminar addresses the often neglected but fundamentally important relationship of culture to security, and is meant to open up new public spaces for dialogue and discussion on the ways cultural matters inform questions of security but also on the ways that security issues are currently shaping cultural concerns, in an effort to move us beyond policy informed simply by a “clash of civilizations.”

In the aftermath of the riots in the Paris suburbs, and amid the ongoing cartoon controversy, the present is a particularly timely moment to address this question. We hope you will join us for what promises to be a lively discussion.

Tuesday, March 7, 2006

2-4:30 p.m.

Dillon S. Ripley Center—Auditorium

1100 Jefferson Drive, SW on the National

[enter the pavilion immediately to the west of the Smithsonian take the elevator down to the 3rd level]

For further information: ndiaye@si.edu

[UPDATE: Tom writes in his next post that he's only got 20 minutes at this event and that they told him only to use PowerPoint if he must. He told them only if they wanted him to speak...]