A demonstration in Tunisia. Photo courtesy of Nayereh Tohidi, director of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at CSUN.

Historian Juan Cole will explore how the Arab millennial generation is changing the Middle East in a lecture at California State University, Northridge on Wednesday, Oct. 15.

His talk is scheduled to take place from 2 to 4 p.m. in room 319 of Jerome Richfield Hall in the west side of the university’s campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge.

Cole is a public intellectual, leading blogger and prominent authority in the field of Middle Eastern studies. He is the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan.

“In his new book, Professor Juan Cole analyzes the transformative role of the new generation of Arab youth and the factors that have made them distinct from their predecessors. He discusses the significance of demographic and technological changes, especially the growing use of social media, the drastic unemployment rates among the youth, as well as historical and political events that have led to the current upheavals in the Middle East and North Africa,” said professor Nayereh Tohidi, director of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at CSUN. “Given the ethnic and national diversity among CSUN students, especially the increasing number of international students coming from the MENA region, it would be very instructive to hear professor Cole whose lecture and new book should help them better understand the latest worrisome and complicated international developments.”

His lecture will embody his work over the last three decades, including his writings about Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, as well as the domestic and foreign struggles Iranians face. Seeking to integrate the relationship of the West and the Muslim world within the current culture, he has appeared on ABC Nightly News, Nightline, the Today Show, Charlie Rose, Anderson Cooper 360, Rachel Maddow and the Colbert Report, among others.

The Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (MEIS) Program at CSUN is an interdisciplinary minor offering courses in the languages, histories, religions, cultures, sociology and politics of the Middle East. It seeks to enhance students’ understanding of Islamic cultures and the Muslim communities both internationally and within the United States.

For more information visit www.csun.edu/meis. You can contact the MEIS office in Sierra Hall 194 or at (818) 677-6762 or (818) 677-7218.

College of Humanities, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies