The History Department Presents: Al Mann Lecture 2023

Posted: April 12, 2023

By: History Department


Alissa Walter Presents "The 20th Anniversary of the U.S. War in Iraq: Perspectives from Iraqi History"
Monday, May 1
4-4:30 p.m. reception, 4:30-6 p.m. lecture
Wyckoff Auditorium (Bannan 244) 

April 2023 marks the 20th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. May 1, 2023 marks the 20th anniversary of George W. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech on Iraq. The U.S. invasion was part of a longer history of US intervention in Iraq, but the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003 marked a significant turning point in reshaping the political, social and economic systems of Iraq. Drawing attention to Iraqis' different stories about their lives under Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship and during the tumultuous two decades that followed his fall, the lecture sheds light on how these large-scale, systemic changes impacted people on the local level. 

Alissa Walter is an associate professor of history at Seattle Pacific University. Her research focuses on state-society relations in modern Iraqi history and Baghdad urban history. She is currently completing a book manuscript, Contested City: State-Society Relations in Baghdad through Wars, Sanctions and Authoritarian Rule, 1950-2011.

This lecture is free and open to everyone.

Questions? Contact Hazel Hahn at hahnh@seattleu.edu.