A WORLD OF CONFLICT Kevin Sites Wednesday, November 14, 2007 8:00pm, Ramo Auditorium, Caltech

Book-signing after the event. In the Hot Zone available courtesy of the Caltech Bookstore.

Award-winning solo journalist, Kevin Sites discusses his insightful journalistic memoir "In the Hot Zone: One Man. One Year. Twenty Wars." and the accompanying documentary "A World of Conflict".

Over the course of one year, Sites, a veteran combat correspondent, covered twenty conflict zones consecutively, seeking to understand the real costs of a world perpetually at war. What he learned was a simple, but declarative truth -- war is not about combatants and the clashing of armies -- but about the systematic destruction of civil life -- civilians and society.

Sites introduces audiences to their "World of Conflict" starting with the anarchy of Somalia in September 2005 and culminating with the explosive war between Israel and Hezbollah in summer 2006. Along the way we meet the victims of conflict, whose stories highlight not only their suffering, but their resilience. Gripping and unforgettable, they include a portrait of an Afghan child bride who escaped from unspeakable torture, an ex-U.S. Marine who is also the son of Somalia's most infamous warlord; close encounters with American-made smart bombs in Lebanon and his holiness, the Dali Llama in Kashmir.

The documentary contains searing, never-before-seen images of combat and its lingering impact on civil society. "A World of Conflict" aims to put a human face on the toll of war, ultimately imploring us, as global citizens, to take responsibility for the violence being perpetrated around the world.

Kevin Sites has spent the past seven years covering global war and disaster for several national networks including NBC and CNN and has helped pioneer solo journalism, traveling to and reporting from some of the world's most dangerous places. During a two-year sabbatical, he served as Broadcast Lecturer at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, CA. His writing and photography has appeared in numerous publications. Sites currently works as a news correspondent for Yahoo! News where he had just completed the ambitious mulit-media project "In The Hot Zone". A past Emmy and Edward R. Murrow Award recipient, Sites received the 2004 Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism and the 2006 Daniel Pearl Award for Courage and Integrity in Journalism.