100 Years of Genocide: Student Conference Call for Papers

As we approach the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the Human Rights Program and the Institute for Global Studies will be hosting three days of events to commemorate this centennial. The events will include the Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Lecture featuring Professor Bedros Der Matossian, which is open to the public (April 23), a student conference, entitled "One Hundred Years of Genocide" (April 24) and a K-16 teacher workshop (April 25). The objectives of these events are to promote public understanding of the genocide and the fates of those who lost their lives and those who escaped. The events will also analyze responses by the international community (and/or lack thereof), and discuss the long-term implications for international policy and actions to prevent and respond to genocide. In addition to these events the Armenian Community of Minnesota will also be commemorating the genocide with there own special programming.

The student conference seeks to bring together graduate and advanced undergraduate students from different disciplines that are working on the Armenian or other episodes of genocide and mass violence.To this end, we are seeking a broad range of papers that examine but are not limited to the following topics:
The Armenian Genocide: Historical and socio-political paths leading to the genocide; the role of the international community, testimonials of survivors; public memory; etc.
Genocide and the international community: Intervention or lack thereof in genocides and large-scale political violence; potential responses to genocide and mass violence; the role of neighboring countries, and other countries.
Genocide and the media: International and local media coverage of genocide; hate media and genocide incitement; representations of mass violence and its (cognitive and ethical) limits; representations in popular media such as movies, documentaries, music etc.
Representing mass atrocity before Lemkin: the Armenian genocide has been referred to as a Crime with no name because it occurred before the Genocide Convention. How does this fact affect how we understand and talk about mass atrocities that occurred before December 9th 1948, including the Armenian genocide?
Genocide Awareness and Advocacy in the Age of Digital Communications: Social media campaigns to promote awareness and response, traditional vs. new technology platforms to document genocide and mass violence, affect organization and mobilization of citizens, etc.
Justice and politics of reconciliation after genocide: The role and effectiveness of judicial processes and transitional justice mechanisms such as International Tribunals, truth commissions and reparations.
Genocide education and public memory: Teaching about genocide and mass atrocities; the representation of the Armenian genocide in history and other textbooks. Memorials, museums and commemoration days/weeks; the politics of commemoration; the use of human remains in memorials and related issues.
Abstracts not exceeding 300 words and a 2 page CV should be sent to Wahutu j. Siguru Siguru@umn.edu by the 15th of January 2015.
The conference was made possible by funding from the Ohanessian Endowment Fund for Justice and Peace Studies at The Minneapolis Foundation and is sponsored by The Institute for Global Studies, Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Chair, and the Human Rights Program at the University of Minnesota.

Twin Cities Premier of Watchers of the Sky

Tuesday, December 9
7:00-9:00 pm
William Mitchell College of Law
Presented by World Without Genocide



Open to the public, no reservations necessary. $10 general public, $5 students and seniors. Free to Mitchell students.
$35 2 standard CLE credits, $35 2 POST credits, 2 educator clock hours.

Watchers of the Sky interweaves four stories of remarkable courage, compassion, and determination, while setting out to uncover the forgotten life of Raphael Lemkin - the man who created the word "genocide," and believed the law could protect the world from mass atrocities. Inspired by Samantha Power's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, A Problem From Hell, Watchers of the Sky takes you on a provocative journey from Nuremberg to The Hague, from Bosnia to Darfur, from criminality to justice, and from apathy to action.
Watch the trailer by clicking here.
Co-sponsors: The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Human Rights Program, University of Minnesota State Bar Association Human Rights Committee,
Congregation Shir Tikvah, Minneapolis; Mt. Zion Temple, St. Paul, United Nations Association of Minnesota; and William Mitchell College of Law.

"Genocide in El Salvador: Where Ethnicity and Politics Collided"

Paula Cuellar Cuellar, Department of History and Badzin Fellow in Holocaust and Genocide Studies
HGMV Workshop
Friday, December 5
12:00p.m.
Room 710 Social Sciences Building



The HGMV workshop was founded to foster interdisciplinary conversations on the subject areas of Holocaust studies, genocide and memory, peace and conflict studies, human rights, nationalism and ethnic violence, representations of violence and trauma, conflict resolution, transitional justice, historical consciousness and collective memory. Support fellow scholars and provide feedback at various stages of the research process, and to engage in dialogue with invited scholars.
For more information contact Erma Nezirevic at nezir001@umn.edu.

The genocide of the Herero people in Namibia and the case for reparations

A special lecture by Ester Utjiua Muinjangue MA
Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Namibia, and Chair, Ovaherero Genocide Committee, Namibia



Presented by the University of Minnesota School of Social Work
Monday, November 10, 2014
5:30 - 7:30
Room 5, Peters Hall
School of Social Work
Light dinner served at 5:30, Presentation begins at 6:00
1.5 FREE CEUS
RSVP to elightfo@umn.edu

Seats still available for new course, Never Again! Memory and Politics after Genocide

SOC 4090 and GLOS 4910
Tue/Th 1.00 to 2.30 (FALL 2014) /Room 15 Humphrey Center
Instructor: Alejandro Baer, Associate Professor Sociology, Feinstein Chair and Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies



Course overview: This course focuses on the social repercussions and political consequences of large-scale political violence, such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. How do individuals, communities and societies come to terms with these atrocities? How do successor regimes balance the demands for justice with the need for peace and reconciliation? How is public memory of the atrocities constructed?

Section I provides an overview of the basic concepts and themes of this class: defining mass violence, collective memory and forgetting in post-atrocity contexts, and transitional justice. In Section II we will look at memory of the Holocaust among descendants of victims and descendants of perpetrators and its impact on the way other communities shape and represent their memories of mass violence and victimhood, i.e. their specific demands, symbolic politics and judicial strategies. In Section III we will address cases from around the globe and different historical settings, including the legacies of State terror in Latin America, the aftermath of Stalinist mass violence in Eastern Europe and American Indian struggles for memory and justice.

We will also examine public remembrance projects such as monuments and museums, film and television series, visual art and other initiatives which operate in conjunction or in tension with legal and political procedures (tribunals, truth commissions, reparations, etc.) and are often initiated by human rights NGOs, victim organizations, intellectuals and artists.

Course Format: This course will be conducted as a combined lecture and discussion course. This basic format will be supplemented by occasional in-class exercises.

Course Requirements: In addition to regular attendance and active participation in discussions, students are required to complete short in-class writing based on the readings, write two 4-5 page, double spaced, critical essays, complete one mid-term exam and a end of semester essay.


Section I provides an overview of the basic concepts and themes of this class: defining mass violence, collective memory and forgetting in post-atrocity contexts, and transitional justice. In Section II we will look at memory of the Holocaust among descendants of victims and descendants of perpetrators and its impact on the way other communities shape and represent their memories of mass violence and victimhood, i.e. their specific demands, symbolic politics and judicial strategies. In Section III we will address cases from around the globe and different historical settings, including the legacies of State terror in Latin America, the aftermath of Stalinist mass violence in Eastern Europe and American Indian struggles for memory and justice.
We will also examine public remembrance projects such as monuments and museums, film and television series, visual art and other initiatives which operate in conjunction or in tension with legal and political procedures (tribunals, truth commissions, reparations, etc.) and are often initiated by human rights NGOs, victim organizations, intellectuals and artists.
Course Format: This course will be conducted as a combined lecture and discussion course. This basic format will be supplemented by occasional in-class exercises.
Course Requirements: In addition to regular attendance and active participation in discussions, students are required to complete short in-class writing based on the readings, write two 4-5 page, double spaced, critical essays, complete one mid-term exam and a end of semester essay.
Visit One Stop to register.

Tribal peoples who have been victims of genocide are highlighted on UN Indigenous Day

Survival reveals 'five faces of genocide' for UN Indigenous Day

08-06-14

Registration open for Holocaust and Genocide related courses

Registration for University of Minnesota's fall 2014 semester is now open with a number of courses that fall within the Center's interdisciplinary approach to the study of the Holocaust and genocide.

The following courses are designed to provide direct and comprehensive instruction on the topic of the Holocaust, as well as the social, memorial and political impact of genocides:

History 3729, Nazi Germany and Hitler's Europe
Professor Gary Cohen
Comprehensive exploration of Third Reich. Students will examine How the Nazis came to power, transformations of 1930s, imposition of racial politics against Jews/others, nature of total war. Students read historical accounts, memoirs, state documents, view films.

Global Studies 4910, "Never Again!" Memory and Politics After Genocide
Professor Alejandro Baer
This course focuses on the aftermath of large-scale political violence. How do individuals, communities and societies come to terms with these atrocities? How do successor regimes balance the demands for justice with the need for peace and reconciliation? How is public memory of the atrocities constructed?

For an extended list of multi-disciplinary courses that present contextual studies of conflicts, human rights violations, power dynamics, social memory and transformation that are mirrored in the Holocaust and other genocides, please see the Fall 2014 Courses List.pdf

To register please visit the University of Minnesota's One Stop Home.

30 years on, Khmer Rouge tribunal seeks to bring the ruthless regime to justice

Khmer Rouge Tribunal to Tackle Genocide Charges

07-29-14

Communities that suffered under German colonial rule receive development funds

Germany spent N$274m on genocide communities

07-29-14

Genocide and its Aftermath: Lessons from Rwanda

On April 16, 17 & 19, the Institute for Global Studies, the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Human Rights Program held a series of events to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1994 genocide that took the lives of an estimated 500,000-1,000,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The events included a public conference, a student conference, and a K-16 teacher workshop. The objectives of the commemorative events were: promoting public understanding of what happened in Rwanda, discussing the immediate responses of the international community to the violence, and analyzing the long-term consequences that the cataclysmic failure to prevent the genocide had on international policy and action.



The public conference, Genocide and its Aftermath: Lessons from Rwanda, was designed to bring together research and praxis. Academics, activists and diplomats led a public exploration of what we have learned from the genocide in Rwanda and how we have been affected by, and should use, that knowledge to create more effective methods of intervention. Themes of the panels included: representations of atrocity, immediate aftermaths, transitional justice and its impacts, and preventing genocide and mass atrocity.

Watch the conference's opening address by Taylor Krauss, founder of Voices of Rwanda, and the keynote address by Adama Dieng, United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, as well as the three panel discussions, please click here or visit CHGS' youtube channel.

Genocide and its Aftermath: Lessons from Rwanda

On April 16, 17 & 19, the Institute for Global Studies, the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Human Rights Program held a series of events to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1994 genocide that took the lives of an estimated 500,000-1,000,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The events included a public conference, a student conference, and a K-16 teacher workshop. The objectives of the commemorative events were: promoting public understanding of what happened in Rwanda, discussing the immediate responses of the international community to the violence, and analyzing the long-term consequences that the cataclysmic failure to prevent the genocide had on international policy and action.



The public conference, Genocide and its Aftermath: Lessons from Rwanda, was designed to bring together research and praxis. Academics, activists and diplomats led a public exploration of what we have learned from the genocide in Rwanda and how we have been affected by, and should use, that knowledge to create more effective methods of intervention. Themes of the panels included: representations of atrocity, immediate aftermaths, transitional justice and its impacts, and preventing genocide and mass atrocity.



Watch the conference's opening address by Taylor Krauss, founder of Voices of Rwanda, and the keynote address by Adama Dieng, United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, as well as the three panel discussions, by clicking here or visiting CHGS' youtube channel.

The Role of Visual Testimony in Survivors of the Mayan Genocide in Guatemala and Mexico

Marisol Soto, PhD student at the Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Holocaust Genocide & Mass Violence Studies Workshop (HGMV)

Thursday, May 1
Room 609 Social Sciences
3:00PM

Marisol Soto's project examines the intersection among photography, social integration beyond trauma and the action of human rights organizations, and explores the important role that photography plays in documenting and reporting human trafficking that targets indigenous populations. I contend that genocides do not only result in direct violence against their victims, but also leave vulnerable communities of survivors that are targets of further violence. In addition, this proposal examines paradoxes resulting from the use of testimonies and archives outside the human rights community, such as in the consumption of atrocity in the media, an act which leads to the re-victimization of young women and children who are victims of trafficking. Finally, I will use photography and literary and testimonial narratives in new ways that complement more traditional forms of expression and provide new insights into the trauma of the victims, with the ultimate goal of contributing to their recovery and protection, and to raise awareness in the society.

Spring Educator Workshop: An Overview of Genocide in 1990s and Early 2000s

One of the series of events to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Genocide in Rwanda
An Overview of Genocide in 1990s and Early 2000s and the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda: A Case Study
Instructor: Samuel Totten, Professor Emeritus of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Arkansas
Saturday, April 19
9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Conference Room 325 Coffman Union, East Bank of U of MN



In this educator workshop, visiting scholar Samuel Totten will begin by discussing the origins, causes and responses to genocide within the scope of human rights and international law. He will then give an overview and summary of genocides perpetrated in Africa and beyond in 1990s including the Nuba Mountains; Srebrenica; and Darfur before examining in depth, as a case study, the 1994 Genocide of Rwanda. Totten will finish by addressing the latest outbreaks of violence in the world, which crimes against humanity have been perpetuated, and noting where there is a fear of genocide breaking out.

Participants of this workshop will receive resources (including one of Totten's books) and materials to develop curriculum to integrate into their classrooms. This workshop will address the 2011 Minnesota Academic Standards for Social Studies as they relate to human rights, international law, and genocide.

Cost: $25 includes parking, a copy of one of Samuel Totten's books, resources, and lunch
CEUs: 6
Registration deadline: April 5, 2014
To register click here
Cancellation deadline: If you need to cancel, write to Deborah Jane at outreach@umn.edu by April 5, 2014. If you cancel after this date, you will not be eligible for a refund.
The Institute for Global Studies in partnership with The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Human Rights Program are hosting a series of events to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994. The events will include a public conference, a student conference, and a K-16 teacher workshop. The objectives of the commemorative events are: promoting public understanding of what happened in Rwanda, discussing the immediate responses of the international community to the violence, and analyzing the long-term consequences that the cataclysmic failure to prevent the genocide had on international policy and action.
Sponsorship made possible in part by the Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Fund at the Minneapolis Foundation.
For a complete listing of events, participating scholars and sponsors please click here.
Photo: Men with weapons (taken by Totten in Nuba Mountains, January 2013)

Genocide and its Aftermaths: Lessons from Rwanda

A Series of Events to Commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Genocide in Rwanda
April 16, 17, 19, 2014



The Institute for Global Studies in partnership with The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Human Rights Program are hosting a series of events to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994. The events will include a public conference, a student conference, and a K-16 teacher workshop. The objectives of the commemorative events are: promoting public understanding of what happened in Rwanda, discussing the immediate responses of the international community to the violence, and analyzing the long-term consequences that the cataclysmic failure to prevent the genocide had on international policy and action.

Sponsorship made possible in part by the Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Fund at the Minneapolis Foundation.

The Public Conference
Wednesday, April 16
Cowles Auditorium, Humphrey School of Public Affairs
The public conference is designed to bring together research and praxis. Academics, activists and diplomats will lead a public exploration of what we have learned from the Rwandan genocide and how we have been affected by, and should use, that knowledge to create more effective methods of intervention. Themes of the panels include: representations of atrocity, immediate aftermaths, transitional justice and its impacts, and preventing genocide and mass atrocity. This event will be free and open to the public.
Featured Speaker: Adama Dieng, UN Special Advisor on Genocide Prevention
Other Speakers Include:
Eric Schwartz, Dean, Humphrey School, former National Security Adviser to President Clinton
Curt Goering, Executive Director, Center for Victims of Torture and former Chief Operating Officer at Amnesty International USA
Alejandro Baer, Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota
Gregory Gordon, Director of the University of North Dakota (UND) Center for Human Rights & Genocide Studies and Former Legal Officer, at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Barbara Frey, Director of Human Rights Program at the University of Minnesota
Samuel Totten, Ed.D, Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Arkansas
Leigh Payne, Professor at Oxford and Senior Research Fellow for the Institute for Global Studies
The Student Conference
Thursday, April 17th
Coffman Union
The students' conference will bring together undergraduate students throughout the Midwest, from different disciplines, who are working on the genocide in Rwanda or other episodes of genocide and mass violence. Those interested in more information or submitting work should see the Call for Papers for more details and contact Wahutu j. Siguru at siguru@umn.edu by the 28th of February 2014.
The K-16 Teacher Workshop: Featuring Professor Samuel Totten
Saturday, April 19
Coffman Union
9:00a.m. to 3:00p.m.
Samuel Totten is one of the foremost scholars of curriculum on Holocaust and genocide education and has published several texts to aid educators integrate this curriculum in their classrooms.
CEU's are available.
Class will be limited to 25. For more information, contact Deborah Jane at djane@umn.edu.
Please check back for further details and updates in the coming weeks. Contact Kaela McConnon at mccon117@umn.edu with any questions or concerns.
Event Co-sponsors: The Center for Victims of Torture, The Advocates for Human Rights, Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, St. Cloud State Center for Holocaust and Genocide Education, World Without Genocide, Department of History, Department of French and Italian, the Institute of Diversity, Equality and Advocacy, the Program in Human Rights and Health and the Human Rights Center of the University of Minnesota
Artwork: "Valentina's Nightmare (Face/Hand Rough)" by Peter Driessen, 1997.

Call for Papers:Genocide and its Aftermaths: Lessons from Rwanda

Undergraduate Students Conference
April 17, 2014

The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the Human Rights Program and the Institute for Global Studies are hosting three days of events to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994. The events will include a public conference (April 16th), a student conference (April 17th) and a K-12 teacher workshop (April 19th). The objectives of the commemorative events are to promote public understanding of what happened in Rwanda, analyze the immediate responses by the international community, and discuss the long-term implications for international policy and actions to prevent and respond to genocide.

The students' conference seeks to bring together undergraduate students (preferably advanced undergraduates) from different disciplines that are working on the Rwandan Genocide or other episodes of genocide and mass violence. To this end, we are seeking a broad range of papers that examine but are not limited to the following topics:


The Rwandan Genocide: Historical and socio-political paths leading to the genocide; the role of the international community, including the ICTR; the gacaca courts; testimonials of survivors; public memory; etc.

Genocide and the international community: Intervention or lack thereof in genocides and large-scale political violence; potential responses to genocide and mass violence; the role of neighboring countries, the UN and other countries.

Genocide and the media: International and local media coverage of genocide; hate media and genocide incitement; representations of mass violence and its (cognitive and ethical) limits.

Rape as genocide: Rape and other forms of gendered victimization during or in the aftermath of mass violence; women-headed households; medical care; children of rape.

Justice and politics of reconciliation after genocide: The role and effectiveness of judicial processes and transitional justice mechanisms such as the ICTR, truth commissions and reparations.

Genocide and public memory: Memorials, museums and commemoration days/weeks; the politics of commemoration; the use of human remains in memorials and related issues.

Genocide and education. Teaching about genocide and mass atrocities; the representation of genocide in history and other textbooks.

Abstracts not exceeding 250 words and a 2 page CV should be sent to Wahutu j. Siguru Siguru@umn.edu by the 28th of February 2014. For more information, please visit the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies Symposia & Conference page.

The organizers will provide supporting funds to defray the costs of the participants whose paper are accepted for presentation. Out of state student presenters will be awarded up to $500 and in state student presenters will be awarded up to $200.

The conference was made possible by funding from the Ohanessian Endowment Fund for Justice and Peace Studies at The Minneapolis Foundation and is sponsored by The Institute for Global Studies, Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, and the Human Rights Program at the University of Minnesota.

Course: Politics of Reconciliation, Memory, and Justice

Monday/Wednesday 1:00-2:15pm
Spring Semester

Prof. Alejandro Baer (Sociology) and Prof. Catherine Guisan (Political Science)

What is political reconciliation? Are we witnessing efforts to bring final resolution to long-standing conflicts? Should we accept that reconciliation is at best a fragile, temporary equilibrium between opposite political forces that must be reenacted with each passing generation? Is reconciliation an action that rests on religious faith, or does religion threaten reconciliation? Is there a dark side to reconciliation that undermines justice and economic fairness?

For more information on this course go to One Stop.

Violence in Central Africa: Is the Central African Republic on the Road to Genocide?

By Wahutu Siguru



Something insidious, but sadly not unexpected, is happening in the Central African Republic (CAR)-over the past twelve months mass killings have been taking place in the CAR, a former French colony in a very rough neighborhood (it borders the Sudan's to the East, Chad to the North, and DRC to the South). Things came to a head in March when the former president Francois Bozizé was deposed by a group of Muslim militants (Séléka) whom instigated sectarian killings and human rights abuses against the largely Christian populace. This has resulted in the formation of self-defense groups (Anti-balaka meaning 'sword/machete' in the Sango language) formed to protect the victims. This conflict is complicated by the fact that there are claims of the Séléka getting support from mercenaries in Sudan and Chad.

On the 5th of December, the UN voted to allow the French to send 400 troops into the CAR who would augment the already present AU battalion of 3600. The French intend on increasing this number to 1200 troops in the coming days following a sudden outbreak of killings within the last fortnight of women and children by Séléka forces (meaning 'union' in the Sango language) that has resulted in 500 deaths and 189,000 fleeing their homes in Bangui. Fears of retaliatory attacks have become more pronounced leading both Burundi and Rwanda to pledge to send troops to the country. While the number of deaths might seem deceptively low for a nation of about 4.6 million, it only accounts for Bangui since correspondents have not been able to venture outside that area.

In a letter by Medecins Sans Frontieres to the UN humanitarian system, MSF has accused the UN of indifference to the plight of the victims. It states that in the year that this atrocity has unfolded UN aid officials have done nothing but collect data that is related to the fighting and not provided assistance to the displaced people sheltering on the same compound as the officials.
It is important to note that this is not "another Rwanda" as has been suggested by some. This is a power grab by a cabal of rebels that seeks to control the vast minerals that are present in CAR. It is not an attempt to rid CAR of its Christian population but rather an attempt to instill fear and submission by a belligerent group. While there may be what some UN officials have called the seeds of genocide this does not ipso facto mean that "another Rwanda" is at hand. It is however, an atrocity that is fast degenerating and a humanitarian catastrophe that is getting worse. The international community finds itself at a crossroads like it has on several occasions (Syria and Mali being the most recent). The French and the AU have taken a proactive role in trying to mitigate the situation but more is needed. The UN humanitarian system also has to step up and rise to the challenge.
This weekend the first signs of hope appeared. Michel Djotodja, the current president and former leader of the Séléka leader said that he is willing to negotiate with Anti-balaka forces. The only problem is that he barely has control of the capital city and some of his former fighters have gone their own way. This is coupled by the fact that no one is sure how much control the faction of Anti-balaka that is willing to negotiate is representative of the movement itself. All of this is compounded by the fact that Anti-balaka has no recognizable structure further throwing into doubt who the president is actually going to negotiate with. Is it simple? No. Is it hopeless? No. It will require some rolling up of sleeves by the UN, AU, France and possibly the UNSC. This development is, however, a small but positive step that has to be fostered and natured by the international community, the sooner the better
Wahutu Siguru is the 2013 Badzin Fellow in Holocaust and Genocide Studies and PhD candidate in the Sociology department at the University of Minnesota. Siguru's research interests are in the Sociology of Media, Genocide, Mass Violence and Atrocities (specifically on issues of representation of conflicts in Africa such as Darfur and Rwanda), Collective Memory, and perhaps somewhat tangentially Democracy and Development in Africa.

Graduate Course: Topics in Law, Crime, and Deviance: Gender, Mass Violence & Crime in International Law

Sociology 8190: Topics in Law, Crime, and Deviance: Gender, Mass Violence &
Crime in International Law

Spring 2014

This course examines crime and criminal justice as gendered phenomena with a
specific emphasis on gender-based violence during conflict. It explores how notions of different types of masculinity and femininity are embedded in and influence criminal behaviors, the operation of the criminal justice system, and the evolution of international criminal law. Course readings draw on historical and contemporary research and various theoretical perspectives, some of which present very different ways to think about how crime and criminal justice are shaped by gender and sex.

Human Rights Minor Paula Sofía Cuellar Cuellar to Present at the Next HGMV Workshop

Trials and Genocides
Holocaust Genocide & Mass Violence Studies Workshop (HGMV)
Thursday, December 12, 2013
3:00p.m.
Room 710 Social Sciences Building



With the internationalization of human rights in the aftermath of the World War II, a new paradigm emerged within the international community. The Westphalian concept of sovereignty was abandoned and was replaced by the idea that human rights were a matter of global concern. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was among the first international treaties enacted under that new world order. That treaty states that the persons charged with genocide "shall be tried."However, in times of transition to democracy, a question arises: are trials a viable option to prosecute genocidaires?

Paula Sofía Cuellar Cuellar's academic education includes a LL.B. Degree from the Central American University "José Simeón Cañas" and includes a Master´s Degree in Human Rights and Education for Peace from the University of El Salvador and a LL.M. Degree in International Human Rights Law from Notre Dame. She also, has a Postgraduate Diploma on Human Rights and Democratization´s Processes from the University of Chile and several diplomas on constitutional law and transitional justice courses. She is currently working towards a minor in Human Rights and an advanced degree in History at the University of Minnesota.

An Argentine Genocide? Individual Accountability and Collective Guilt during 1976-83 Dictatorship

A talk by Antonius Robben, Anthropology,
Utrecht University
Monday, November 25
4:00p.m.
125 Nolte Center



The sentencing of Argentine officers for carrying out genocide by disappearing tens of thousands of citizens has opened a public debate about agency and accountability during the 1976-83 military dictatorship. This presentation analyzes how this shift from gross human rights violations to genocide is having extensive implications for national memory, political responsibility, international law, and the concept of genocide.

Antonius Robben (PhD, Berkeley, 1986) is Professor of Anthropology at Utrecht University and past President of the Netherlands Society of Anthropology. He has been a research fellow at the Michigan Society of Fellows, Ann Arbor, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, New York, and the David Rockefeller Center, Harvard University. His most recent books include Political Violence and Trauma in Argentina (2005) that won the Textor Prize from the American Anthropological Association in 2006, and the edited volume Iraq at a Distance: What Anthropologists Can Teach Us About the War (2010).

Organized by the IAS Reframing Mass Violence: Human Rights and Social Memory in Latin America and Southern Europe Collaborative. Cosponsored by the Human Rights Program, and the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.