PULLMAN – The overarching sense of failure in Afghanistan – a country “where the improvement of living conditions has been stagnant” – will be among the topics addressed by Rafi Samizay, a native of Afghanistan and WSU professor of architecture, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 1, in Smith CUE 203.
As part of the WSU Common Reading Tuesdays series, Samizay also will reflect on success stories from his nine years of work on design and construction projects in Afghanistan. The projects range from local government and justice facilities to higher education buildings.
Poor living conditions “bring to light the question of which should come first: peace or development,” he said. “One may even question the prevailing models of international development to understand the discontent of the people of Afghanistan.”
Samizay has authored two books and many articles on the country’s vernacular architecture, Islamic architecture and cultural history.
His presentation is part of the year-long Common Reading Tuesdays series featuring WSU faculty, staff, students and guests. Presenters draw their topics from the 2010-11 common reading book for freshmen, “Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books not Bombs in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” by international humanitarian Greg Mortenson.
Mortenson’s book is the fourth chosen by the Common Reading Program in as many years. Like its predecessors, it has been used in classes and programming across campus. A hallmark of the program is the annual author’s lecture. Mortenson visited campus on Jan. 26.
For more information, visit http://CommonReading.wsu.edu or, on Facebook, at www.facebook.com/CommonReading.