Violence, Memory, and Human Rights: An Interdisciplinary Conference
January 30 - February 1, 2012, University of South Florida, Tampa
Sponsored by the USF Departments of Anthropology and History, and the USF Humanities Institute
Conference Objectives: The ever-repeated incidents of non-combat-related massacres and mass violence that happen in time of conflict have been a source of analysis by academics, the media, and legal authorities. Typically, such events are concealed, and witnesses silenced or ignored, often in the name of “moving on.” Yet the impulse to tell the story seems universal, and may be essential if true reconciliation is to be achieved. Worldwide, movements have emerged to break the silence and to restore dignity to those who died. In many cases the mass grave has become a potent source of evidence that may serve to validate the accounts of witnesses, whether the outcome is prosecution or more simply to “set the record straight” for history. In many contexts, artists have been inspired to create visual art, literature, and theatre as ways to narrate, validate, or memorialize such atrocities.
Although many disciplines have contributed to the worldwide debate on violence, memory, and human rights, rarely do they come together to share their insights. This small conference will offer a unique, interdisciplinary forum, in which forensic scientists may interact with poets, or historians with legal scholars, anthropologists and philosophers. They will examine questions such as: What circumstances precipitate mass violence? What is the impact on surviving individuals, families, and communities? How are massacres remembered – or forgotten? When and how can perpetrators be brought to justice, and victims acknowledged and compensated? What is the importance of exhumation and the presence of the physical body? What is the role of scholars, not only in documenting atrocities, but also in facilitating subsequent action and reparation? And how do the humanities, in the form of art, literature, poetry, music, film, and performance offer unique insights into both the persistence of trauma and recovery?
Confirmed Speakers
Frank Chalk (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison), Professor of History, Concordia University (Montreal, Canada) and Director, Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, is co-author, with Kurt Jonassohn, of The History and Sociology of Genocide (Yale Univ. Press, 1990; Spanish transl. Prometeo Libros, Buenos Aires, 2010), co-author with Gen. Roméo Dallaire, Kyle Matthews, Carla Barquiero, and Simon Doyle of Mobilizing the Will to Intervene: Leadership to Prevent Mass Atrocities (McGill-Queen’s Univ. Press, 2010), an associate editor of the 3-volume, Macmillan Reference USA Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity (2004) and Consulting Editor for the Genocide and Persecution Series (Cengage Learning). His recent book chapters include “Monitoring African Government’ Domestic Media to Predict and Prevent Mass Atrocities: Opportunities and Obstacles” in Robert Rotberg, ed., Mass Atrocity Crimes: Preventing Future Outrages (Brookings Institution Press, 2010) and, with Danielle Kelton, “Mass Atrocity Crimes in Darfur and The Response of Government of Sudan Media to International Pressure,” chapter 5 in Crisis in Darfur, Amanda Grzyb, ed. (Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 2009). Professor Chalk served as President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (June 1999-June 2001), and is a past president of the Canadian Association of African Studies. His current research is focused on radio and television broadcasting in the incitement and prevention of genocide, and domestic laws of genocide. Prof. Chalk teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on the history and sociology of genocide, the Holocaust, humanitarian intervention, and the history of United States foreign relations. During his sabbatical leave in the academic year 2000-2001, Prof. Chalk was a Fellow of the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC. In 1975-1976, Prof. Chalk served as a Fulbright Professor at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Margaret Urban Walker The Donald J. Schuenke Chair in Philosophy at Marquette University, her research and teaching center on ethics, including ethical theory, moral epistemology and moral psychology, feminist ethics, and questions of accountability and repair of moral relationships. Her current research is on justice and repair following conflict, repression, and historical injustice; she is author of Moral Repair: Reconstructing Moral Relations After Wrongdoing (Cambridge University Press, 2006), and What is Reparative Justice? (Marquette University Press, 2010). She has worked with the International Center for Transitional Justice on projects on gendered violence and reparations, and truth-telling in the context of political transitions. She was the first woman to hold the Cardinal Mercier Chair in Philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven, and has held a Laurance S. Rockefeller Fellowship at Princeton University’s Center for Human Values.
David Hawk
Hawk’s career in human rights began in the 1960s, when he worked on voter registration, community organizing and civil rights efforts in Mississippi and Georgia. He became Executive Director of Amnesty International, USA, in the mid-1970s, and directed the UN human rights office, during the mid-1990s when it was the largest field operation of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. In the early 1980s Hawk did path-breaking original photographic and archival documentation of the human rights atrocities in Cambodia under Khmer Rouge rule, and researched and authored the first comprehensive documentation and analysis of the political prison camp system in North Korea. He has had long affiliation with the Columbia University Center for the Study of Human Rights and the University Seminar on Human Rights at Columbia, and was a Fellow in International Law and Justice at Brandeis University.
Film Night: Meet the Director
Barry Stevens We’re pleased to welcome noted screenwriter and director Barry Stevens, who will introduce his new, award-winning film Prosecutor, and conduct a Q and A after the screening. The film profiles the controversial International Criminal Court prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo. Gerald Kaplan, author of Rwanda: The Preventable Genocide, describes it as “Powerful filmmaking! Prosecutor asks all the tough questions and raises all the big issues. This is a documentary for a thinking audience." Stevens has written TV series and movies, but since working on the Emmy-winning documentary on the South African Truth Commission, Gerrie and Louise, he has focused on documentaries. He co-wrote The Last Just Man, about Rwanda, and directed The Bomber's Dream, before directing Prosecutor, and he has won several Geminis and Writer's Guild Awards.
Travel Information
Airport Transportation:
The University of South Florida is located approximately 20 miles from Tampa International Airport. Guests arriving at T.I.A. have several options for ground transportation.
- Several major rental car companies are located in the airport’s main terminal.
- SuperShuttle provides transportation to/from Tampa International Airport. Reservations can be made by visiting http://www.supershuttle.com/ or calling 1-800-BlueVan. Guests can expect to pay approximately $20 each way.
- Cabs are also available outside Tampa International Airport baggage claim. Rates vary but can cost $40+ each way.
Hotel Informtion:
Several area hotels have offered discounted rates for conference guests for Jan 29 – Feb. 2. Reservations must be made by Dec. 30, 2011 to receive the discounted rates.
- Embassy Suites: 3705 Spectrum Blvd. Tampa, FL 33612 813-977-7066. $149/night + tax. This hotel is located on the southwest corner of the USF campus. They offer a complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast and Manager’s Reception. This hotel also runs a complimentary shuttle to the USF campus. When calling to make reservations, make sure to state that you are coming for the Violence, Memory, and Human Rights Conference, hosted by the USF Humanities Institute
- Clarion Hotel: 2701 E. Fowler Ave. Tampa, FL 33612 813-971-4710. $59/night + tax. This hotel is located less than two miles from the USF campus and offers complimentary shuttle service. When calling to make reservations, make sure to state that you are coming for the Violence, Memory, and Human Rights Conference, hosted by the USF Humanities Institute.
- Wingate by Wyndham: 3715 E. Fowler Ave. Tampa, FL 33612 813-979-2828. $108/night + tax. This hotel is located less than two miles from the USF campus, offers a full breakfast buffet and complimentary shuttle service. When calling to make reservations, make sure to state that you are coming for the Violence, Memory, and Human Rights Conference, hosted by the USF Humanities Institute.
- La Quinta Inn & Suites: 3701 E. Fowler Ave. Tampa, FL 33612 813-910-7500. From $89/night + tax. This hotel is located less than two miles from the USF campus and offers a complimentary breakfast. When calling to make reservations, make sure to state that you are coming for the Violence, Memory, and Human Rights Conference, hosted by the USF Humanities Institute. *This hotel does not offer shuttle service to campus.
Parking on Campus: Guests wishing to park on campus can use several visitor parking lots located near the Marshall Student Center where all events will be taking place. Lots 3B, 3C, and 3D all have parking pay stations which accept cash and credit cards and issue hourly or daily parking passes. Please dowload the Visitor Parking Map for lot locations and additional information.