Expert on U.S.-Saudi Arabian History and Relations to Speak at University of Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Robert Vitalis, a noted Middle East expert, will speak on “America’s Kingdom: the Saudi Oil Frontier,” at 1:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 29, in Giffels Auditorium in Old Main on the University of Arkansas campus.

The lecture is sponsored by the King Fahd Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies and the department of political science in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Science, and is free and open to the public.

Vitalis is associate professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania. He spent seven years researching and writing his most recent book, America’s Kingdom: Mythmaking on the Saudi Oil Frontier. Other experts in the field of Middle East studies have described the book as “fascinating and highly provocative,” and say it will force scholars to reevaluate their assumptions about U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia.