COURSE SPEAKERS
PETER ASARO, PROFESSOR OF MEDIA STUIDES, THE NEW SCHOOL
Peter Asaro is Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Programs for the School of Media Studies at the New School for Public Engagement in New York City. He is the co-founder of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control (ICRAC), and has written on lethal robotics from the perspective of just war theory and human rights. Dr. Asaro's research also examines agency and autonomy, liability and punishment, and privacy and surveillance as it applies to consumer robots, industrial automation, smart buildings, and autonomous vehicles.
ROMAN BACA, EXIT 12 DANCE COMPANY
Roman Baca is a U.S. Marine Iraq War Veteran and the Artistic Director of Exit12 Dance Company in NYC. After a career in dance, Mr. Baca served as a U.S. Marine and was deployed to Fallujah, Iraq from ‘05-’06. Mr. Baca serves as Fellowship Alumni Associate with The Mission Continues and is a spokesperson for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. His priorities are defined by his desire to help veterans realize their potential in the civilian world and the impact they can make in their communities.
BRANDON BRYANT, PROJECT RED HAND
The founder of Project Red Hand, Brandon Bryant joined the US Air Force in 2005, started training for the drone program April 12th of 2006, flew his first mission on December 3rd of that year, and fired his first hellfire shot on January 26th the following year. After leaving active duty on July 4th of 2011, he was the first drone operator to publicly speak out about the realities of the program. Seen on Democracy Now, CNN, Fox, published in GQ, Time Magazine, and collaborating on the first article by The Intercept, Brandon seeks to answer all questions and get as much information to the public as possible. He was a part of Robert Greenwald’s documentary “Unmanned” and in Tonje Hessen Schei’s documentary “Drone.” He has spoken in front of the Security Council, and schools and parliaments across Europe. He advocates for transparency, questioning the nature of justice, open access to the internet, and veteran support.
ADAM KOKESH, FREEDOM!
Adam Kokesh is a U.S. Marine veteran, activist, talk show host, and writer. Adam volunteered to go to Iraq in December of 2003. As a principled non-interventionist, he didn’t think the war was going to be worth the cost or in America’s best interest, but believed that after the invasion rebuilding constituted a “responsible foreign policy.” However, his experience in Iraq moved him to return to the U.S. and work full-time as an activist for non-military intervention, veterans' issues, and basic human freedoms.
BRIAN MCDONALD, VETERAN ARTIST PROJECT (VAP)
Brian McDonald is a U.S. Army veteran who served 7 years as an Arabic linguist and Special Operator in the Joint Special Operations Command. BR deployed 3 times to Southeast Asia during his Army career and 4 times as an Operations and Intelligence Consultant for the Department of Defense. After getting out of the Army in 2008, McDonald decided to get back to his roots as an actor/singer and founded the Veteran Artist Program (VAP), which takes artists, who are also veterans, and propels their works and careers into the mainstream creative arts community through networking, mentorships, collaborations with professional artists and original productions.
THOMAS M. MCDONNELL, PROFESSOR OF LAW, PACE UNIVERSITY
Professor Thomas M. McDonnell is an expert in international law, and the author of The United States, International Law and the Struggle against Terrorism. His book discusses the critical legal issues raised by the U.S. responses to the terrorist threat, analyzing the actions taken by the Bush and Obama administrations during the so-called "War on Terrorism" and their compliance with international law. Professor McDonnell highlights specific topics of legal interest including torture, extra-judicial detentions, targeted-killing-drone strikes, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and examines them against the backdrop of terrorist movements which have plagued Britain and Russia. McDonnell has written articles on international law, international human rights law, lawyering, and legal writing and research. He was the principal author of an amicus curiae brief to the New York Court of Appeals on a right to counsel issue. Professor McDonnell teaches International Law, International Human Rights Law, and Criminal Law at Pace University.
BROCK MCINTOSH, IRAQ VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR (IVAW)
Brock McIntosh served 8 years in the Army National Guard as a combat MP, including a tour in Afghanistan from 2008 to 2009. He is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War and has been involved in numerous veteran support and advocacy organizations. After applying for conscientious objector status as a secular humanist, his sociology research focused on the ethics of military social science and adapting sociological theory to developments in neuroscience and artificial intelligence. He is currently a Harry S. Truman Scholar pursuing an MPA at New York University.
TOBY MILLER, PROFESSOR OF CULTURAL STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF CARDIFF
Toby MIller is a British-Australian-US interdisciplinary social scientist. He is the author and editor of over 30 books, has published essays in more than 100 journals and edited collections, and is a frequent guest commentator on television and radio programs. His teaching and research cover the media, sports, labor, gender, race, citizenship, politics, and cultural policy. He taught at Murdoch, Griffith University, and the University of New South Wales and was a professor at New York University from 1993 to 2004, when he joined the University of California, Riverside. Miller was Distinguished Professor of Media & Cultural Studies at UCR until the end of 2013 and is now Professor of Journalism, Media, and Cultural Studies at the University of Cardiff and Sir Walter Murdoch Professor of Cultural Policy Studies at Murdoch University.
CHARLES PENCE, PROFESSOR PHILOSOPHY, LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
Charles Pence is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosphy and Religious Studies at Louisiana State University. He specializes in the philosophy of biology and the application and ethics of contemporary technology. He has taught courses at Notre Dame in the John R. Reilly Center on the ethics of emergent technologies. He received the Sir Karl Popper Prize from the British Society for the Philosophy of Science in 2013 and the Philip R. Sloan Prize from Notre Dame in 2012.
JOSE VASQUEZ, IRAQ VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR (IVAW)
Jose is a former Sergeant with the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserve. He joined IVAW in June 2005 and co-founded the NYC chapter serving as the president. He also served on the interim board of directors and was elected to the first official board in 2006. He helped organize numerous actions and events including the Veterans’ and Survivors’ March to New Orleans, Operation First Casualty in NYC, and Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan. He represented IVAW in the editing process for the Winter Soldier book published by Haymarket. Jose is completing a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology at the CUNY Graduate Center where he is conducting research on militarization and the politics of sacrifice among veterans in contemporary American society.
COPYRIGHT © JESSICA BEHM, CITYATWORK, LLC