When Egypt was on the brink of civil war with mass protests and an unstable government threatening to push the country over the edge, Rasha Abdulla was in the middle of the turmoil, keeping millions of people updated one blog post at a time.
A Skype interview and audience Q&A with Abdulla will be held on Tuesday, April 5, from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. in the Learning Center, Room 110.

Abdulla resides in Egypt and was in Tahrir Square in January when the protests began. Carmen Gentile, a freelance journalist who was wounded in Afghanistan last year, will give a brief background on the situation occurring in the Middle East.

Abdulla is one of the first to begin blogging and utilizing Facebook to send out messages regarding the protests in Tahrir Square. Her February 4, 2011 blogpost, titled “Letter From Tahrir Square: Praise for the ‘Facebook Generation,’ ” commends the youth of Facebook for joining in the fight for freedom during crisis in Egypt. She believes the Internet is a vital element in reshaping a better future for Egypt and its people.

The first student from the School of Communication to graduate with a Ph.D. in Communication Studies in 2003, Abdulla is an expert in the uses and effects of mass media. An associate professor and chair of journalism and mass communication at the American University in Cairo, she is most interested in what she calls an “Internet revolution” and the use of the Internet among Arab students in Egypt, the subject of her Ph.D. dissertation. Her recent publications concentrate on the use of new media, particularly the Internet, development communication, and education through entertainment and freedom of expression.

Christopher Tomlins, professor at the University of California-Irvine School of Law, will speak on “The Consumption of History in the Legal Academy: Science and Synthesis – Perils and Prospects” on Tuesday, April 5 at 12:30 p.m. in the UM law school’s faculty conference room.

Tomlins is widely regarded as one of the leading American legal historians in the United States and one of the most highly regarded scholars working at the intersection of law and society and law and humanities. He is a prolific author on the history of American law. He has written two books and dozens of scholarly articles and has edited five books, including the new three-volume Cambridge History of Law in America.

For the past 18 years, Tomlins has been a research professor at the American Bar Foundation. He has also been a frequent presenter and commentator on issues ranging from “International Labor and Employment Law, Globalization, and Governance” to “A Genealogy of Police in American Constitutional Law.”

To RSVP for the lecture, contact Detra Davis Fleming at [email protected].

The Miami-Florida European Union Center of Excellence, a partnership with Florida International University and the Jean Monnet Chair of the University of Miami, will present a book presentation by María Lorca-Susino, lecturer in economics and international studies at the University of Miami. Lorca-Susino will speak about her new book, The Euro in the 21st Century: Economic Crisis and Financial Uproar, on Tuesday, April 5 at 11 a.m. in the Whitten Learning Center, Room 140. Since 2005 Lorca-Susino has served as associate director and editor at the European Union Center of Excellence, where she is currently a postdoctoral fellow.

The Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy will host a seminar by Jean M. Wilson, professor of cell biology and anatomy in the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona, on Tuesday, April 5 at 12 p.m. in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building, fourth-floor auditorium. Wilson will present “The Role of Membrane Trafficking in the Maintenance of Epithelial Architecture and Integrity.” For more information, contact Nilcer Aviles at 305-243-6691 or [email protected].

The Office of Research Information Management and the Office of Research Education and Training will conduct informational sessions on the Research Reporting System (RRS) on Tuesday, April 5, from 10 to 11 a.m. and on Wednesday, April 20, from 12 to 1 p.m. in Dominion Towers, Room DT 1201-B. These informational sessions will not only provide an overview and useful tips on how to use the system but will also help attendees share their needs with the reporting team. Registration is available through ULearn. If you have any questions, call the Office of Research Education and Training at 305-243-5092 or email [email protected].