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PRESS RELEASE
Armenian National Committee
Eastern Region
69-23 47th Avenue
Woodside, NY 11377
Contact: Doug Geogerian
Tel: 917-428-1918
Fax: 123-456-7890
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.anca.org
Boston - National Book Award winning author and professor Dr. Robert Jay
Lifton will give a public lecture on the psychology behind the atrocities at
Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, October 14, at 7:30pm, Gutman Conference Center
of Harvard University. 6 Appian Way. Dr. Lifton will look back to historical
precedents by discussing Turkish resistance to his comparison of the
Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust, while taking a critical look at the war
in Iraq. Professor Henry Theriault of Worcester State College will
introduce Dr. Lifton.
As a scholar, Dr. Lifton has spoken out against Turkish denial of the
Armenian Genocide on numerous occasions. In his book The Nazi Doctors:
Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide, Dr. Lifton referred to the
Turkish doctors who participated in the Armenian Genocide. This prompted
the Turkish Ambassador to send a letter criticizing Lifton for his
indictment of Turkish perpetration. Accidentally enclosed with the letter
was a memo written by Professor Heath Lowry to the Turkish Ambassador
explaining an inside strategy for denying the Armenian Genocide in general,
showing that Lowry was nothing more than an arm for the Turkish government.
Dr. Lifton with Roger Smith and Eric Markusen wrote an article analyzing the
letter and exposing how the Turkish government had exploited academic
corruption to deny the Armenian Genocide. They were key in the Armenian
National Committee's campaign to try and get Princeton to revoke Lowry's
position as Ataturk Chair of Turkish Studies at Princeton.
In his talk, Dr. Lifton will draw on psychological studies to explain
America's excessive response to the apocalyptic violence of Al-Qaeda. He
will examine how America's "Superpower Syndrome" influenced the war in Iraq
and led to the psychological environment that produced the Abu Ghraib
scandal. Finally, he will argue that a change in the Administration is
necessary for America to overcome this syndrome, resume old alliances, and
assume a more peaceful stance in the world. Dr. Lifton is the author most
recently of Superpower Syndrome: America's Apocalyptic Confrontation with
the World, from Nation Books, which describes two competing visions -
Islamist and American - each aimed at massive destruction in the name of
global purification and renewal.
Dr. Lifton is the visiting professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical
School. From 1995 he has been conducting psychological research on the
problem of apocalyptic violence, focusing on Aum Shinrikyo, the extremist
Japanese cult that released poison gas on Tokyo subways. He is the author of
many books including Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo,
Apocalyptic Violence and the New Global Terrorism and The Nazi Doctors:
Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide. Dr. Lifton has also written
on the Armenian genocide, drawing comparisons with the Jewish holocaust.
A book signing with Dr. Lifton will follow the event. Doors open at 7 PM.
Please call to reserve camera positions and to receive media credentials.
Armenian National Committee
Eastern Region
69-23 47th Avenue
Woodside, NY 11377
Contact: Doug Geogerian
Tel: 917-428-1918
Fax: 123-456-7890
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.anca.org
Boston - National Book Award winning author and professor Dr. Robert Jay
Lifton will give a public lecture on the psychology behind the atrocities at
Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, October 14, at 7:30pm, Gutman Conference Center
of Harvard University. 6 Appian Way. Dr. Lifton will look back to historical
precedents by discussing Turkish resistance to his comparison of the
Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust, while taking a critical look at the war
in Iraq. Professor Henry Theriault of Worcester State College will
introduce Dr. Lifton.
As a scholar, Dr. Lifton has spoken out against Turkish denial of the
Armenian Genocide on numerous occasions. In his book The Nazi Doctors:
Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide, Dr. Lifton referred to the
Turkish doctors who participated in the Armenian Genocide. This prompted
the Turkish Ambassador to send a letter criticizing Lifton for his
indictment of Turkish perpetration. Accidentally enclosed with the letter
was a memo written by Professor Heath Lowry to the Turkish Ambassador
explaining an inside strategy for denying the Armenian Genocide in general,
showing that Lowry was nothing more than an arm for the Turkish government.
Dr. Lifton with Roger Smith and Eric Markusen wrote an article analyzing the
letter and exposing how the Turkish government had exploited academic
corruption to deny the Armenian Genocide. They were key in the Armenian
National Committee's campaign to try and get Princeton to revoke Lowry's
position as Ataturk Chair of Turkish Studies at Princeton.
In his talk, Dr. Lifton will draw on psychological studies to explain
America's excessive response to the apocalyptic violence of Al-Qaeda. He
will examine how America's "Superpower Syndrome" influenced the war in Iraq
and led to the psychological environment that produced the Abu Ghraib
scandal. Finally, he will argue that a change in the Administration is
necessary for America to overcome this syndrome, resume old alliances, and
assume a more peaceful stance in the world. Dr. Lifton is the author most
recently of Superpower Syndrome: America's Apocalyptic Confrontation with
the World, from Nation Books, which describes two competing visions -
Islamist and American - each aimed at massive destruction in the name of
global purification and renewal.
Dr. Lifton is the visiting professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical
School. From 1995 he has been conducting psychological research on the
problem of apocalyptic violence, focusing on Aum Shinrikyo, the extremist
Japanese cult that released poison gas on Tokyo subways. He is the author of
many books including Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo,
Apocalyptic Violence and the New Global Terrorism and The Nazi Doctors:
Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide. Dr. Lifton has also written
on the Armenian genocide, drawing comparisons with the Jewish holocaust.
A book signing with Dr. Lifton will follow the event. Doors open at 7 PM.
Please call to reserve camera positions and to receive media credentials.