Jackson Lecture To Focus On African State Of Eritrea

Beth Dougherty, assistant professor of political science and chair in international relations at Beloit College in Wisconsin, will deliver Baylor University's annual Laura Blanche Jackson Lecture in World Issues at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 3, in Miller Chapel. Dougherty will speak on "Welcome to Free Eritrea: The Construction of Identity in a New African State."
Dougherty, who received her doctorate from the University of Virginia, joined the Beloit faculty in 1996 and teaches courses in foreign policy, international organizations and law, nationalism and ethnic conflict and Middle East politics. In 1994 and 1997, she made to research trip to Eritrea, formerly part of Ethiopia, and has traveled to Egypt, Jordan and Palestine.
Her research interests include the politics of national identity formation, intervention and civil war. An active member of the International Studies Association, she recently presented two papers on innovative teaching techniques in international relations and co-authored a paper with Steve Saideman of Texas Tech University titled "Secessionist Foreign Policy and the Strategic Use of Identity."
In 1999, she was the recipient of the Underkofler Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching award as the top professor at the college, and in 1991 she was honored by the American Political Science Association with the prestigious Rowman and Littlefield Award for innovative teaching in political science.
The Laura Blanche Jackson Lectureship in World Issues was created in 1994 as a memorial to Laura Blanche Jackson, who graduated from Baylor in 1985 with a degree in political science and became the director of marketing for the World Affairs Council of San Antonio. After Jackson's death from cancer in 1992, her family created the lectureship to examine various world issues as a way to honor her passion for world affairs.
The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, call the department of political science at (254) 710-3161.