Panel Discussion To Explore “Rebels Against Regime: Iraq and Syria”

Graphic_RebelsMarch 20, 2014 – Allegheny College will present a panel discussion, “Rebels Against Regime: Iraq and Syria,” at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26 in the Gladys Mullenix Black Theatre in the Vukovich Center for Communication Arts. Both the panel discussion and a reception following the discussion are free and open to the public.

The panel will include journalists Ben Lando and Andrew Stanbridge. Stanbridge is teaching a short course at Allegheny, “Rebels Against Regime in Syria: Through the Eyes of a Photojournalist,” that is a study of the current war in Syria that places the conflict in its historical and geographical contexts.

Stanbridge’s interest was piqued by the histories of conflict that his own home country of America had been involved in and the recovery from the aftermath of these conflicts. For the past five years he has concentrated on this theme by addressing the physical, emotional and cultural scars left from these conflicts.

He has spent time clearing and photographing unexploded ordnance, gone on patrol with ragtag armies and spent countless hours hearing the stories of those whose lives have been affected by the vestiges of war. He has also begun to make forays to the African continent to photograph postcolonial communities on the islands of Sao Tome and Principe as well as creating a visual survey of Ethiopia beyond the well-known images of drought and starvation.

Ben Lando is founder and Iraq bureau chief of Iraq Oil Report, an acclaimed source for news, analysis and information about the country’s energy, society and political and security issues. He manages a network of local and international reporters and researchers, as well as the company’s news, custom research and photo divisions.

Lando has reported from a dozen countries on energy, political and security issues. He has been published in the Wall Street Journal, the Economist and Time Magazine and is currently a contributing editor at Platts. He has been based in Baghdad for more than three years and travels throughout Iraq.