Conversations with History: Institute
of International Studies, UC Berkeley
This interview is part of the Institute's "Conversations
with History" series, and uses Internet technology to share with the public
Berkeley's distinction as a global forum for ideas.
Welcome to a Conversation with History. I'm Harry
Kreisler of the Institute of International Studies. Our guest today
is Pamela Constable who is the deputy foreign editor of the Washington
Post and author of Fragments of Grace.
- Background ... responsibility
comes with privilege ... English teachers ... "middle-brow journalism"
... early career in journalism
- Being a Foreign Correspondent
... initiative ... imagination and resourcefulness ... heightened sensitivity
... energy ... hardship ... Afghanistan under the Taliban ... stealth ...
translators and language difficulties
- Doing the Job as a Woman ...
no problems in Latin America ... the Muslim world ... pretending to be a man
... offending the Taliban
- First Steps in a New Place ...
learning a set of activities to become grounded ... making contacts ... finding
substitutes
- Religion ... role of Catholicism
in Latin America ... living and breathing Islam ... deliberate inconvenience
of Islam ... religion vs. culture ... strictures on women ... city vs. rural
... hypocrisy
- Responsibilities of a Journalist
... reporting the experience faithfully ... finding the good in every experience
... the value of Islam ... modernization in Islamic world ... maintaining
ties in absence of normality ... moments to remember
- Fragments of Grace and
Beyond ... a brave book ... is it worth it?... return trips to the
U.S. ... taking on new role of editor ... empathy ... changes in journalism
... greater emphasis on foreign affairs ... pressures of the internet ...
pressures of conformism ... effect of plagiarism scandals ... advice to students:
just do it
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