FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 04/06/2009

Middle East Debate Set For April 22 At Bridgewater College

BRIDGEWATER, Va. — Anisa Mehdi and Michael Lame will debate "Disagreeing on Everything: A Debate on Attaining Peace in the Middle East" at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 22, in the Carter Center for Worship and Music at Bridgewater College.

Mehdi and Lame present, explore and discuss with the audience various perspectives that keep peace between Israelis and Palestinians at bay. Friends and collaborators for more than 20 years, Mehdi and Lame demonstrate the art of respectful dispute, while simultaneously arguing points of history, religion, aggression, victimization, justice and conflict resolution.

Mehdi is an Emmy award-winning journalist and filmmaker specializing in reporting on religion and the arts. She produced and directed the National Geographic special, "Inside Mecca," which premiered on PBS in 2003. She also was executive producer of the PBS Frontline documentary "Muslims," which premiered in 2002. She wrote and produced the four-part series "Muslim Voices" for ABC's Nightline. As the first American woman to report on the hajj from Mecca for U.S. television, she produced award-winning coverage of the hajj for PBS's "Religion and Ethnics News Weekly."

She received a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College and a master's degree from Columbia University. She began her career as a news writer for WBZ-TV in Boston and later was an associate producer for CBS News in New York. A trustee of the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, Calif., she builds Citizen Diplomacy programs and interfaith workshops.

Lame is co-founder and president of PROSPERO LLC, a management consultant and organizational trainer who conducts leadership and communication programs in the U.S. and the Middle East.

Before becoming a consultant, Lame was the founder and president of The Foundation for Mideast Communication, which promoted face-to-face communication between Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East as well as among Christians, Jews and Muslims throughout the U.S. and Canada. He developed, led and trained others to lead the two-day Re-Thinking the Middle East Workshop.

Lame received a bachelor's degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz and holds a law degree from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.

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The debate is sponsored by the Harry and Ina Shank Endowed Lecture Series and is open to the public at no charge.

Bridgewater College, a private, four-year liberal arts college, enrolls more than 1,500 students. Founded in 1880 and located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, it was the state's first private, coeducational senior college.

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