August 31, 2004

Trinity Professor to Appear on The 'History Channel'

By: Susie P. Gonzalez 

David W. Lesch, professor of Middle East history at Trinity University, will be one of three experts featured on an upcoming segment of a History Channel series called "Command Decisions." Professor Lesch will discuss the Six Day War, which took place in 1967 between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.

The segment will be broadcast five times during the first week in October. Airdates are Friday, Oct. 1 at 7:30pm; Saturday, Oct. 2 at 1:00pm; Sunday, Oct. 3 at 10:30pm; Thursday, Oct. 7 at 11pm; and Friday, Oct. 8 at 3am. Check local listings.

Field producers, working on behalf of the cable channel that showcases historic events, interviewed Professor Lesch on June 8 in a television studio operated by Trinity's department of communication. Dan Bree, writer and associate producer of Michael Hoff Productions Inc., said the segment with Professor Lesch would be the 13^th segment of the 20-part series. Mr. Bree said Rashid Khalidi, a renowned expert and author on the Middle East who teaches at Columbia University, recommended Professor Lesch for the program. In January, the two scholars participated in a roundtable discussion on Middle East issues that was sponsored by the U.S. State Department.

Professor Lesch expressed gratitude at being asked to participate in the History Channel's segment on the Middle East. "It also means a lot that someone as respected as Rashid would think of me as well," he said. Other experts interviewed for the show were a military historian and an Israeli scholar. 

Both Professors Lesch and Khalidi were featured in a recent series on National Public Radio examining tensions between the Middle East and the West.

The History Channel interview was timely since Professor Lesch had just returned from two weeks in Syria, where he was a guest of the president, Bashar al-`Asad, and was granted extensive interview time with the 38-year-old president, his wife, and other top-ranking officials in the Syrian government. Professor Lesch hopes to complete a book by the end of the year titled Bashar al `Asad: The Next Lion of Damascus? that will be published by Oxford University Press.  Professor Lesch has written four other books about the Cold War and the Middle East and is working on yet another volume about the Arab-Israeli conflict.  

"Command Decisions," a new interactive series, explores turning points in history and challenges viewers to put themselves in the position of actual decision-makers.

Pop-up questions will challenge viewers, and experts will fill in the blanks. The series focuses on decisions made during key battles of history, Mr. Bree said.

© 2006 Trinity University