October 28, 1997

WHAT:
As part of an ongoing mandate to host visiting scholars who can enhance York University's rich interdisciplinary approach to East Asian Studies, the York East Asian Studies Program, in conjunction with the Joint Centre for Asia-Pacific Studies, the Centre for Refugee Studies and the Department of Political Science, presents:

"Report from Cambodia: The Coup D'etat and the Death of Democracy -- The Meaning and Significance of Recent Events"

In this lecture, University of Victoria professor Kate Frieson takes a front-line look at the recent events in Cambodia: the 1993 UN-sponsored elections; the subsequent breakdown of democracy; the June 1997 coup; and recent concerns that coup leaders are terrorizing and executing their opponents. Professor Frieson will draw upon her extensive experiences working and researching in Cambodia to cast some light on the recent turmoil.

WHO:
Kate Frieson is a professor of Pacific and Asian studies at the University of Victoria who has considerable first-hand knowledge of the situation in Cambodia. From January to August 1997 she was living in Cambodia, where she worked with the United Nations Centre for Human Rights to investigate the coup and its aftermath. She has travelled extensively throughout Asia, living in Thailand (where she taught English in refugee camps), China and Cambodia. Frieson is a specialist on the Khmer Rouge, and worked with the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) leading up to the elections in 1993. She will be returning to Cambodia next month as part of a three-year research project on gender and nationalism.

WHEN:
Thursday, October 30, 1997, 3:00 to 5:00 pm

WHERE:
Brian Cragg Cinema, Room 211 Founders College
York University
4700 Keele Street
North York

For more information, please contact:

Sine MacKinnon
Senior Advisor for Media Relations
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087
email: sinem@yorku.ca

Alison Masemann
Media Relations Officer
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
email: masemann@yorku.ca
YU/092/97