Northeastern Illinois University will host the 4th Annual Genocide Research Symposium on Nov. 1.
Titled “Human Rights and Genocide in Africa and the Diaspora,” the symposium will run from 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Alumni Hall on the Main Campus. It is free and open to the public.
“In the past, the Genocide Research Group has held symposia critically interrogating the meaning of genocide in Africa and the African diaspora, exploring the significance of denial, gender and resistance in this context,” said Jeanine Ntihirageza, associate professor and department chair of Anthropology, the English Language Program, Philosophy, and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. “This year we continue to explore themes that bear on theorizing genocide in Africa and the African diaspora in multiple ways with a focus on human rights.”
Researcher and expert in African genocide Kurt Mills, who is a senior lecturer in international human rights at the University of Glasgow and director of the Glasgow Human Rights Networks, will deliver a speech titled “Impediments to Stopping Atrocities in Africa and Beyond” at 12:15. Mills’ research interests are in human rights, refugees and humanitarianism. His regional area of specialization is sub-Saharan Africa.
Obang Metho, executive director of the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia, will deliver a speech titled “A Journey From the Solitary Darkness of Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide to the Embrace of the ‘Other’” at 4:15. Metho will share from his personal experience how the failure on the part of perpetrators, victims, bystanders, stakeholders and the international community to see the humanity of those outside one’s own group continues to block the path to more sustainable solutions to crimes against humanity and genocide.
The symposium is co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Social Work, African and African-American Studies, Justice Studies, the English Department and TESOL.
