An independent journalist will present video and news reports from Iraq and Lebanon and a surgeon will discuss the medical aftermath of the Iraq war on Friday, Sept. 29, at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Urban Hamid, an Arabic-speaking freelance journalist and author, will speak in Eaton Humanities Building room 1B50 at 6:30 p.m. He will be joined by Dr. Gene Bolles of Boulder.
The free and public event is co-sponsored by the CU-Boulder School of Journalism and Mass Communication and Present Tense: Films and Discussions of Boulder. It will be followed by a discussion with the audience.
Hamid is of Swedish-Iraqi descent and his video of the American occupation of Baghdad appeared in the movie "Fahrenheit 9/11." He will discuss the impact of the Israeli military action on the civilian population of Lebanon, and present an examination of the current political instability in Iraq from the perspective of a non-embedded journalist.
Bolles was the director of neurosurgery at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where many injured U.S. troops from the Middle East are treated, from November 2001 to February 2004. He will discuss the medical aftermath of the Iraq war on civilians and soldiers, and will show slides taken during three weeks he spent in Iraq in May. He is a surgeon at the CU-Denver and Health Science Center and also the Denver Health Medical Center.
"We are pleased to partner with Ellen Maslow and Present Tense in featuring independent news from these war zones," said Paul Voakes, dean of the CU-Boulder School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
"Independent journalists represent a valuable added dimension to the Fourth Estate in terms of their dedication to the citizen's right to know," he said. "In our school we stress the importance of a diversity of viewpoints, especially in the reporting of controversial news and issues."
Present Tense: Films and Discussion is a community-based, tax-exempt organization devoted to creating dialogue and community between people of diverse perspectives about relevant social issues. For more information visit or call (303) 938-1132.
The presentation will be repeated on Saturday, Sept. 30, at 6:30 p.m. at Boulder's Unity Church, located at the corner of Folsom Street and Valmont Road. A $5 donation is suggested for the Sept. 30 event.