ATHENS, Ohio -- Edward Said, university professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University, will be the keynote speaker at Ohio University's 2001 Baker Peace Conference. This year's conference, "Language, Literature and Peace in the Middle East," will be held Thursday, Nov. 8.

Said, who is regarded as one of the most prominent intellectuals in the United States, will cap off the conference with his keynote address at 8 p.m. in Irvine Auditorium, room 194. Said's writing regularly appears in international journals and he has lectured at more than 150 universities and colleges in the United States, Canada and Europe.

The theme of this year's conference focuses on the role of language and literature in the waging of war and peace in the Middle East.

"This is a very timely issue," said Kenneth Daley, conference chair and associate professor in the Ohio University Department of English. "We're particularly interested in considering the ways in which language and literature work to shape perceptions of national identity and ideas of the 'other' among Jews and Palestinians."

The conference will begin at 10:15 a.m. with the screening of "The Last Enemy," an award-winning documentary by Israeli director, Nitzan Gilady. The film, which is based on the conflict in the Middle East, will be shown at the Baker University Center Ballroom.

A panel of speakers will present "The Personal and the Political: Representing National Identity in the Arts" at 1:15 p.m. in the ballroom. Following a 15-minute break, a second panel of speakers will present "Culture, Critique and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict" at 3:15 p.m., also in the ballroom.

The conference is co-sponsored by the Baker Peace Endowment, the Department of English and the Contemporary History Institute.

For more information, contact the Contemporary History Institute at (740) 593-4362.