The following University of California, Davis, faculty members are available to comment on issues related to the reported death of Osama bin Laden.

Al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden: UC Davis religious studies professor Flagg Miller can talk about al-Qaida’s ideology before and after Sept. 11. He is especially qualified to speak about Osama bin Laden’s influence, or lack thereof, among a diverse range of Islamic militant movements. Miller is writing a book, "Becoming Bin Laden," that investigates the contents of bin Laden’s own audiotape library, a collection of more than 1,500 tapes acquired from his residence in Qandahar, Afghanistan, by CNN. Miller has worked as a linguistic anthropologist in Yemen, bin Laden’s ancestral homeland, and is the author of the book, "The Moral Resonance of Arab Media: Audiocassette Poetry and Culture in Yemen" (2007). More information, including two UC Davis video news stories, is here: http://www.ucdavis.edu/spotlight/0511/bin_ladens_legacy.html. Contact: Flagg Miller, Religious Studies, (530) 574-3758, fmiller@ucdavis.edu.

Islam, war and human rights: Contemporary Middle Eastern historian and Islamic studies specialist Keith David Watenpaugh can talk about radical and moderate Islam, American policy on the Middle East, and Islam in America. He can also address human rights in the Middle East, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Christian-Muslim relations. A religious studies professor, Watenpaugh is a former senior fellow in international peace at the United States Institute of Peace and is the author of "Being Modern in the Middle East" (2006) and editor of "The Arab Intellectual and the Question of Modernity" (2009). Contact: Keith David Watenpaugh, Religious Studies, (530) 574-0815, kwatenpaugh@ucdavis.edu.

Conspiracy theories: UC Davis folklorist Patricia A. Turner can discuss conspiracy theories and urban legends that have persisted about the Sept. 11 attacks. She has documented rumors and conspiracy theories about Barack Obama since 2004, including many texts that posit connections between him and Osama bin Laden. She can also comment on the likelihood of alternative narratives developing following the unexpected deaths of highly visible individuals, e.g. John F. Kennedy, Elvis Presley, Princess Diana and now Osama bin Laden. Turner, a professor of American studies, and African American and African studies, is the author of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine: Rumor in African-American Culture" (1993) and the co-author of "Whispers on the Color Line: Rumors and Race in America" (2001). Contact: Patricia Turner, African American and African Studies, (530) 752-6068, paturner@ucdavis.edu.