The Boston College
Chronicle Published by the Boston College Office of News & Public Affairs january 19, 2012 VOL. 20 no. 9
INSIDE
UNDER THE LIGHTS
GSSW to Collaborate on Program in Afghanistan
•Police officer’s donation a life-saver, page 2
By Sean Smith Chronicle Editor
•Sub Turri at 100, page 2
•HEALTHY YOU ready for second year, page 3 •Two honors for Liane Young, page 3 Goaltender Chris Venti ‘12 makes a save during the Eagles’ 2-1 win against Northeastern Saturday at Fenway Park. It was BC hockey’s second visit to the fabled ballpark since January of 2010. (Photo by John Quackenbos)
BC Awaits Ruling on Irish Archives By Ed Hayward Staff writer
•Reminder on crime reporting, page 3 •Stokes looks at caregivers with HIV, page 4
•Irish Institute programs, page 5 •Kay Lemon on credit cards, page 5 •Muskavitch’s mosquito research, page 6 •Every Bite Counts food program, page 6 •Lowell Humanities Series spring schedule is set, page 8
Boston College is awaiting the decision of a federal appeals court in Boston that will determine its obligation to turn over to the US Attorney’s Office an interview with former IRA member Delours Price, which was conducted as part of the University’s oral history archive on The Troubles in Northern Ireland. The oral history project, which was directed by author and former Irish Times journalist Ed Moloney,
and overseen by Executive Director of Irish Programs and University Professor of History Thomas E. Hachey and Burns Librarian Robert K. O’Neill, contains dozens of personal accounts of individuals from the predominantly Catholic nationalist movement and the largely Protestant loyalist cause in Northern Ireland. Last spring, Boston College was served a subpoena by the US Attorney’s Office on behalf of an undisclosed law enforcement agency in the United Kingdom requesting the interContinued on page 5
A collaboration between Boston College and Hunter College aims to help establish social work as a recognized profession in Afghanistan, by developing national qualification standards and university level curricula at undergraduate and graduate levels. Eileen Ihrig, who is director of international programs at the BC Graduate School of Social Work, is the co-principal investigator for the project, which will create occupational standards and training systems that focus on child protection. The project will take place through the National Skills Development Program in the Afghanistan Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled, funded by a grant from UNICEF. Ihrig and co-principal investigator Hunter College School of Social Work Associate Professor Martha Bragin, chair of the school’s Global Social Work and Practice with Immigrants and Refugees program, traveled to Afghanistan twice last year to meet ministerial staff and others
who are involved in the project. Among those helping to coordinate efforts is Maryanne Loughry, RSM, associate director of the Jesuit Refugee Service Australia and a visiting scholar at GSSW. The project’s goal for the coming year, said Ihrig, will be to develop curricula for three different professional levels in child protection: social care worker, social worker and social work manager. Child protection is widely acknowledged as a critical need in Afghanistan, Ihrig said. Years of conflict have eroded traditional family-based structures that protected children. Today, children often face danger from within their own families, as well as from the larger society, says Ihrig. “You see family violence and child abuse in the home, and then there are other risks, such as forced or early marriage for girls, and forced labor or combat for boys. Afghanistan has many needs, but ensuring that its future generations are able to grow up safe and healthy is certainly a major priority.” Ihrig acknowledges that the Continued on page 4
A New Beginning for Muslims in Europe? Despite controversies, Laurence sees progress in state-mosque relations By Sean Smith Chronicle Editor
Western Europe hardly seems a model for harmonious relations between Muslim minorities and the non-Muslim societies in which they reside. Controversies have flared recently over the wearing of burkas in public, construction of mosques, and an ironic suggestion from a French ex-political official that his fellow Muslims wear green stars. But Associate Professor of Political Science Jonathan Laurence tells a different story in his new book, The
Emancipation of Europe’s Muslims: The State’s Role in Minority Integration. During the past two decades, he says, European countries have stepped up efforts to integrate Muslims into the institutional, political, and cultural fabrics of European democracy. Foremost among such initiatives has been the governmentled creation of Islamic Councils to help resolve public disputes over Islamic practices. The book caught the attention of The Economist, which called it an “original and thought provoking study...[focusing] on a crucial new mechanism of state-mosque relations.” “There’s a perception that multiculturalism and integration where Islam is concerned has been a failure
QUOTE:
in Western Europe,” says Laurence. “I think you have to take a wider, and longer, view. The fact is, although these are pluralistic societies, governments and official policies had been lagging behind the reality — they had not accepted the permanence of the situation. “But since the 1990s, and to an even greater degree this century, there is a definitive shift toward acceptance of Muslims as citizens — and affirming their emancipation —rather than viewing them as ‘foreigners.’” In the book, Laurence uses historical parallels in his analysis of the Muslim experience in Western Europe of the past several decades, pointing to government interactions with groups once considered “out-
Lee Pellegrini
Jonathan Laurence
siders” — such as Jews and trade unions — at key points in the development of modern states. “To be sure, it’s a transition that Continued on page 4
“The more veils we put between ourselves and mosquitoes, the less likely it is they will bite us and spread diseases among humans.” —Professor of Biology Marc Muskavitch, page 6