Campus Life

‘We Crossed A Bridge And It Trembled: Voices From Syria’ Author To Give Lecture Jan. 24

January 22, 2018

Wendy Pearlman

By Lauren Holtmeier, Texas A&M University Bush School of Government & Public Service

Wendy Pearlman, expert and author on displaced Syrians across the Middle East and Europe, will hold a book signing and will speak at Texas A&M University on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018. Pearlman has conducted open-ended interviews with more than 300 displaced Syrians across the Middle East and Europe from 2012 to 2017. She has brought together these personal stories in the acclaimed new book We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria.

Pearlman will share a selection of voices from the book, along with her own commentary and analysis, to explain the origins and evolution of the Syrian conflict as well as what it has been like for the ordinary people who have lived its unfolding at an event hosted by the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. The event will begin with a reception and book signing at 5 p.m. in the Presidential Library Orientation Theater. The talk will follow from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and will paint a portrait of silence and intimidation under an oppressive authoritarian regime before 2011, express the euphoric experience of participating in protest against that regime, convey the resilience of communities enduring unspeakable violence thereafter, and offer a window into the challenge of becoming and being a refugee. This talk will offer a humanistic interpretation of the current conflict in Syria and how it has transformed those who have experienced it. Bush School Professor Gregory Gause will moderate a discussion following the talk.

Wendy Pearlman is an associate professor of political science and the Martin and Patricia Koldyke Outstanding Teaching  at Northwestern University, where she specializes in the comparative politics of the Middle East. She is the author of three books as well as dozens of essays, academic articles, or book chapters. Pearlman holds a BA from Brown University, an MA from Georgetown, and a PhD from Harvard. She speaks Arabic and has studied or conducted research in Spain, Germany, Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Israel, and the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Visit the Bush School website for event registration information.

###

Media contact: Sheera Helms, Administrative Coordinator, Scowcroft Institute, (979) 845-6510, sheera@tamu.edu.

Related Stories

Recent Stories