The Kosovo Crisis of 1999: Historical Context and Personal Experiences

The Huntington Lecture Series: An intellectual treatTo emphasize our commitment to scholarship, Principal Price and the PTSO are sponsoring a series of lectures by faculty and community members on a wide-ranging variety of topics of interest to all. The series encourages faculty and parents to get to know one another in an intellectual and professional setting.

Staff, students, parents and friends are cordially invited to attend:

Thursday, March 13, 2014

4:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Film Lecture Hall, Newton North High School

After witnessing nearly a decade of war in the former Yugoslavia, much of the world was shocked when yet another round of ethnic tensions erupted in the Serbian province of Kosovo in 1998. By May 1999, over 1 Million Kosovar Albanians had fled their homes. Yet for observers of the Balkans, the war in Kosovo was an inevitable final act in the Yugoslav tragedy. The death of Yugoslavia, noted historian Noel Malcolm, “began in Kosovo, and it will end in Kosovo.” This talk will focus on the historical roots and context of the Kosovo war. How did this relatively small province find itself in headlines around the world? What led to the crisis? How did the events in Kosovo fit into the larger context of the Fall of Yugoslavia? What was life like in the province before and after NATO intervention? North History teacher Greg Drake will address these questions and reflect on his own experiences working with refugee populations in Kosovo and Macedonia.

Gregory Drake is a history teacher and the Model United Nations advisor at Newton North High School. Previously, he worked for several years in the non-profit sector, both in the U.S. and abroad. Mr. Drake spent 1998-2000 working for Kinderberg, e.V. a German humanitarian organization, managing projects related to children’s health and education in the Balkans.

Light refreshments will be served.

R.S.V.P. Jeanne White, 617 969-6734, or e-mail: babajeanne@gmail.com