N A S S A U   N O T E S

Leader of Buddha resoration effort to speak

The Swiss architect leading an effort to reconstruct two 1,700-year-old giant Buddha statues that were destroyed by the Taliban will speak on campus Friday, Feb. 22.
     Paul Bucherer, who directs the Afghanistan Institute and Museum in Basel, Switzerland, will speak on "Afghanistan's Cultural Heritage: The Reconstruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan" at 7:30 p.m. in McCormick 101.
     The colossal statues were carved into solid limestone cliffs in Afghanistan. The larger of the two, at 175 feet tall, had been the world's largest Buddha. The Taliban dynamited the statues in March 2001, acting on a belief that Islamic law forbids representational images of deities.
     The restoration plan calls for three phases of work: creation of a detailed digital representation of the Buddhas; construction of a one-tenth scale model based on the digital images; and complete reconstruction at the Bamiyan site.
     Bucherer's visit is sponsored by the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, which will host a public reception for him before the talk, starting at 6:45 p.m. in the lobby outside McCormick 101. Over the following weekend, 25 other experts and leaders from Afghanistan, Europe and the United States will join Bucherer and Princeton faculty members for workshops on the subject of security and self-governance in Afghanistan.

Expert to explore bioterrorism control in lecture

Barbara Hatch Rosenberg, director of the Federation of American Scientists' Chemical and Biological Weapons Program, will present a lecture titled "The Anthrax Attacks and the Control of Bioterrorism" at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18, in Bowl 1, Robertson Hall.
     Rosenberg was a founder of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Program in 1989. She chairs the federation's Working Group on Biological Weapons Verification, a group of volunteer experts devoted to biological weapons control. She recently has been tracking the source of the anthrax attacks that occurred in the United States last fall. She also studies biological weapons issues as a research professor of environmental science at the State University of New York at Purchase.
     The lecture is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Talk set on future of Indonesia

Robert Hefner, professor of anthropology at Boston University, will give a lecture on "Religious Violence and the Future of Indonesia" at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18, in Bowl 2, Robertson Hall.
     Hefner is the associate director of the Institute for the Study of Economic Culture and a research associate at the Institute for Religion and World Affairs at Boston University. He is the editor of "The Politics of Multiculturalism: Pluralism and Citizenship in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia" (2001) and the author of "Civil Islam: Muslims and Democratization in Indonesia" (2000), "The Political Economy of Mountain Java: An Interpretive History" (1990) and "Hindu Javanese: Tengger Tradition and Islam" (1985).
     This event is part of the Southeast Asia Lecture Series and is sponsored by the Center of International Studies, the Department of Politics, the Council on Regional Studies, the Southeast Asia Students Organization, Foreign Policy in Focus and the International Center.

Washington film to be shown

Presidents Day will be marked at Princeton with the screening of a documentary on George Washington at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18, in McCormick 101.
     Rick Brookhiser, the on-screen host of the film "Rediscovering George Washington," and Michael Pack of Manifold Productions, the executive producer, will be present to talk about the documentary after the screening.
     A reception will follow the program in the lobby of the Art Museum. The event is sponsored by the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.

	Pianist Geoffrey Burleson

Taplin Auditorium

Pianist Geoffrey Burleson will perform a free concert at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, in Taplin Auditorium, Fine Hall. The program, presented by the Composers' Ensemble at Princeton, is titled "Memory, Mourning and Machines." It will include works by Franz Liszt, Maurice Ravel, George Antheil, Luigi Nono, Lennie Tristano, Conlon Nancarrow, David Rakowski and Princeton faculty composer Barbara White.

Eisgruber to focus on rights of terrorists

What Rights Do Terrorists Have?" is the title of a talk to be presented Wednesday, Feb. 20.
     Christopher Eisgruber, the Laurance Rockefeller Professor of Public Affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School and the University Center for Human Values and director of the Program in Law and Public Affairs, will speak at 4:30 p.m. in Bowl 1, Robertson Hall.
     Eisgruber's research focuses upon constitutional theory, religious liberty, legal philosophy and adjudicative institutions. His book, "Constitutional Self-Government," (Harvard University Press, 2001) defends judicial review and constitutionalism as practical devices for implementing a subtle, non-majoritarian form of democracy. He is a 1983 Princeton graduate.
     The lecture is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

'Pakistan and India Under the Nuclear Shadow' documentary to be presented

A film on "Pakistan and India Under the Nuclear Shadow" will be shown at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, in Bowl 1, Robertson Hall.
     The screening will be followed by a discussion with Zia Mian, research assistant with the Program on Science and Global Security and lecturer of public and international affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School, and Smitu Kothari, visiting lecturer of public and international affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School.
     The 35-minute documentary, from the Eqbal Ahmad Foundation, was written by Mian and produced and directed by Pervez Hoodbhoy. It takes a critical look at the period following May 1998, when India and Pakistan announced their status as holders of nuclear weapons. It includes commentary from senior Indian and Pakistani military leaders, heads of Islamic religious organizations and militant groups, leading peace activists, academics and journalists.
     The program is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Chapel re-opening

The re-opening of the Mander/Skinner Organ in the University Chapel will be celebrated during a program at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22. David Messineo, principal University organist, will perform the music of Cochereau, Duruflé, Karg-Elert and Wagner. Admission is $10, or free for students. The organ was closed for nearly two years while the stained glass windows were restored and the stonework and masonry repaired. More...

Symposium set on women's religious roles in Africa and African Diaspora

Scholars will gather on campus Friday, Feb. 22, for a symposium titled "Purity, Power and Praise: Revisioning Women's Religious Roles in Africa and the African Diaspora."
     The event will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Whig Hall Senate Chamber. A morning session will focus on women's ambivalent place in African-American churches and education during the early 20th century, while an afternoon session will center on women's religious practices in contemporary Nigeria. A reception will follow in Whig Lounge.
     The symposium is sponsored by Princeton's Center for the Study of Religion, Program in African-American Studies and Program in African Studies. It is part of a larger research project on Women and Religion in the African Diaspora, housed at the Center for the Study of Religion and funded through a grant from the Ford Foundation. Over the next three years, the project will foster a multifaceted historical inquiry into women of African descent living in the United States and in "the Americas" more broadly. It seeks to understand the varied ways in which women of African descent have influenced and even transformed religious traditions.
     Further details about the symposium and the project are available at <www.princeton.edu/~csrelig>. For more information, contact the Center for the Study of Religion at <askline@princeton.edu> or 258-5545; or the Program in African-American Studies at <jeanw@princeton.edu> or 258-4271.

Book fair benefits nursery school

The University League Nursery School's annual book festival is set for noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, at the Community Park Elementary School, 372 Witherspoon St.
     Books for children and parents will be for sale, and there will be book-related crafts for children. Entertainment will include music, dance, storytelling, puppet shows and an appearance by the Cat in the Hat. There also will be a silent auction with items donated by local businesses, individuals and nonprofit agencies.
     Proceeds will benefit the nursery school's scholarship fund and the Trenton Literacy Program. Adult admission is $3; children are admitted free.