(Posted April 29, 2002)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- The stark differences in value systems between mainstream U.S. citizens and the Sept. 11 terrorists, the Palestinians and Israelis and the followers of David Koresh at Waco will be the topic of the lecture "When the Parties Bring Their Gods to the Negotiating Table: Lessons from Waco, Sept. 11, and the Middle East," at Juniata College at 7 p.m. April 25 in 402 Good Hall on the Juniata campus.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

The lecture will be given by Jayne Seminare Docherty, associate professor of conflict studies at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va., an expert on conflicts between groups with unconventional religious or political beliefs. She is the author of the book "Learning Lessons from Waco: When the Parties Bring Their Gods to the Negotiating Table."

Docherty is involved in several environmental conflict resolution projects and, as a result of her research on the events at Waco, Texas, she has spoken with F.B.I. agents on how to improve law enforcement strategies for handling conflicts with groups who hold unconventional beliefs.

Docherty has been at Eastern Mennonite since August 2001 and worked previously as an assistant professor at Columbia College in Columbia, S.C. from 1998 to 2001.

She earned a bachelor's degree in religious studies at Brown University in 1978 and earned a master's degree in theology from the University of St. Andrews, in St. Andrews, Scotland. She earned a doctorate at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.