Lawrence Pintak, who has been called the foremost chronicler of the interaction between Arab and Western media, will give the first lecture of Whitworth University’s 56th annual Great Decisions Lecture Series. Pintak is a former Middle East correspondent for CBS News and the founding dean of Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow School of Communication. His lecture, “The U.S. and the Muslim World,” will take place Feb. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the Robinson Teaching Theatre in Whitworth’s Weyerhaeuser Hall.

Whitworth Professor of Political Science John Yoder said in a press release that Pintak is an engaging speaker whose many years of living in the Middle East, along with his award-winning work with CBS News, will provide lecture attendees with context and a deeper understanding of the issues faced by people in that part of the world.

“Perhaps no other part of the world receives more attention that the Middle East — however, it is a region poorly understood by most Americans,” said Yoder. “Lawrence has a wonderful ability to go beneath the headlines and help his audience understand how Middle Easterners view themselves and the Western world. He enables his listeners to go beyond the clichés and slogans that seem to drive so much of our policy in the Middle East.”

Pintak has won two Overseas Press Club awards and was twice nominated for international Emmys. Prior to his work at WSU, Pintak served as director of the Kamal Adham Center for Journalism Training and Research at The American University in Cairo. He is the host of The Murrow Interview, a series of broadcast conversations with leading figures in international affairs and global journalism, and was founding publisher of the online journal Arab Media & Society.

His books include The New Arab Journalist (I.B. Tauris, 2011); Reflections in a Bloodshot Lens: America, Islam & the War of Ideas (Pluto Press, 2006); Seeds of Hate: How America’s Flawed Middle East Policy Ignited the Jihad (Pluto Press, 2003); and Beirut Outtakes (Lexington Books, 1988).

The second Great Decisions lecture will take place on March 7, at 7:30 p.m. in Weyerhaeuser Hall's Robinson Teaching Theatre, according to a press release. For information on the Great Decisions Lecture Series, please call (509) 777-4937. Great Decisions 2013 is sponsored by the Whitworth Political Science Department.