Convocations

Dr. Shannon French is the author of The Code of the Warrior: Exploring Warrior Values Past and Present.

Warrior cultures throughout history have developed unique codes that restrict their behavior and set them apart from the rest of society. But what possible reason could a warrior have for accepting such restraints? Why should those whose profession can force them into hellish kill-or-be-killed conditions care about such lofty concepts as honor, courage, nobility, duty, and sacrifice? And why should it matter so much to the warriors themselves that they be something more than mere murderers?

The Code of the Warrior tackles these timely issues and takes the reader on a tour of warrior cultures and their values, from the ancient Greeks and Romans to the "barbaric" Vikings and Celts, from legendary chivalric knights to Native American tribesmen, from Chinese warrior monks pursuing enlightenment to Japanese samurai practicing death. Drawing these rich traditions up to the present, the author quests for a code for the warriors of today, as they do battle in asymmetric conflicts against unconventional forces and the scourge of global terrorism.

Shannon E. French is associate professor of philosophy at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where she teaches courses in the ethics curriculum for the Department of Leadership, Ethics, and Law.

Kurt Raaflaub is the David Herlihy University Professor and Professor of Classics and History at Brown University and serves as Chair of the Program in Ancient Studies. His principle research and teaching interests are in the social and political history of the Roman republic and in the social, political, and intellectual history of archaic and classical Greece.

He is currently working on War, Peace, and Reconciliation in the Ancient World, the topic on which he will speak at the World Views Convocation on September 19th.

His publications include several books
- The Discovery of Freedom in Ancient Greece (Chicago: University Press, 2004) received the American Historical Association's James Henry Breasted Prize for best book in English onany period before 1000 CE.
- Dignitatis contentio: Motivation and Political Strategy in Caesar's Civil War (Munich 1974, in German)

He is co-author of the following:
- Origins of Demcocracy in Ancient Greece (co-authored with Josiah Ober and Robert Wallace, with contributions by Paul Cartledge and Cynthia Farrar), forthcoming (Berkeley: University of California Press)
- Studies in the Delian League (Konstanz 1984, in German);
- Aspects of Athenian Democracy (Copenhagen 1990)
- Ancient History: Recent Work and New Directions (Claremont 1997)
- Origins of Democracy in Ancient Greece (Berkeley 2005).

And he has edited these books:
- Social Struggles in Archaic Rome (Berkeley 1986; new ed. Oxford, forthcoming)
- Between Republic and Empire: Interpretations of Augustus and his Principate (Berkeley 1990, with M. Toher)
- City-States in Classical Antiquity and Medieval Italy (Stuttgart & Ann Arbor, Michigan 1991, with A. Molho and J. Emlen)
- Beginnings of Political Thought in the Ancient World: The Near-Eastern Civilizations and the Greeks (Munich 1993, in German)
- Democracy 2500? Questions and Challenges (Dubuque, Iowa, 1998, with I. Morris)
- Democracy, Empire, and the Arts in Fifth-Century Athens (Cambridge Mass. 1998, with D. Boedeker)
- War and Society in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds (Cambridge Mass. 1999, with Nathan Rosenstein)

Joseph Sebarenzi, M.A., is a Peacebuilding Associate of the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding in Amherst, MA, and  holds an Honorary Doctorate from Marlboro College. A Rwandan citizen and survivor of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, he is also the former president of the Parliament of Rwanda (1997-2000) and is currently engaged in a Ph.D. Program in Peace Studies at the University of Bradford in the U.K. Joseph is a vocal advocate for peace, democracy, and human rights, in numerous presentations at conferences on peace, reconciliation, and human rights in relation to the Great Lakes Region of Africa, and in frequent radio appearances on the BBC and VOA broadcasting to Africa. He also teaches conflict resolution at the School for International Training in Vermont.  Currently a resident of Virginia, he plans to return to Rwanda eventually, and hopes his home country will soon be a safe place for people of all races, creeds and heritages.