The Institute

As part of the development of VOICES, an ambitious international collaboration that will join theatre artists, media artists, and technologists from Bradley University (Peoria, IL, USA) and the University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada) with other international collaborators to develop, rehearse, and present an original Internet2/Intermedial theatrical work focused on genocide awareness, I will be participating in the Genocide and Human Rights Institute at Northern Illinois University from June 15 to June 28, 2008.

This multi-date residential institute focuses on the intertwined issues of genocide and human rights. Participants will begin the residential sessions by defining the terms, learning about the philosophical and historical antecedents, and common characteristics of genocides and human rights violations. The seminar will then turn toward exploring the historical, political, sociological/anthropological, and contemporary dimensions of genocide and human rights by focusing on the causes, courses and consequences of the events. The case studies include: Armenia, the Holocaust, Ukrainian famine-genocide, Cambodian, Cyprus, El Salvador, Iraq, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Sudan genocidal episodes. Other examples that will be integrated and considered include the Irish famine, the indigenous peoples of the Americas, and the current status of human rights throughout the world.

The final week of the institute will be held in Washington D.C. with visits planned to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum including a session with Manya Friedman, a Holocaust survivor, the National Museum of the American Indian, representatives from both the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, Save Darfur, and Genocide Watch.

The goals of the institute include:

• Understanding the history and legacy of genocide and human rights.
• Exploring how the history of genocidal events and human rights violations is related to contemporary world problems.
• Becoming familiar with the vast body of historical, political, anthropological/sociological literature on genocide and human rights.
• Learning techniques for respectfully presenting sensitive subjects and graphic images in the classroom.
• Fostering long-term relationships between educators for sustained curricular development, sharing of ideas, and creation of new knowledge in the field of genocide and human rights studies and related instructional methods.


The purpose of this BLOG is to share the experience and reflect upon what I have learned from participating in the Institute.