Historical trauma, memory, and transitional justice part of panel discussion
What: Panel discussion on historical memory and justice
Who: Leading experts on transitional justice, genocide, and the memory of repression
When: November 3, 2 to 4 p.m.
Where: UBC Okanagan Library, Room 305, 3333 University Way
When societies experience significant historic trauma, in the form of mass repression or violence, how do they deal with its legacy? Why do some societies engage in a formal reckoning with the past, while others do not? How does memory shape the quest for justice and the creation of legislation to prevent repression and violence in the future? And what is the role of states in shaping memory of historic trauma?
These are critical questions for Canadians to grapple with in the wake of the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee and the ongoing inquest into Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women.
A round-table with leading experts in this field takes place in room 305 in UBC Okanagan’s Library on Friday, November 3 at 2 p.m.
Lavinia Stan, an associate professor at St. Francis Xavier, is a leading expert on transitional justice in post-communist states in East and Central Europe. She will address the factors that can explain why some countries engaged in reckoning with the past, while others have not.
Maureen Hiebert, an associate professor at the University of Calgary, has published extensively on responses to genocide and theories of genocide, and has done wide-ranging fieldwork on the case of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Her presentation will look at how international law and tribunals have responded to atrocity crimes and whether these processes have helped prevent further abuses and brought justice to the victims of these crimes.
Barbara Falk, an associate professor at Canadian Forces College, has researched dissidence in Communist Eastern Europe as well as the politicization of memory of repression. She will look at how memory is manipulated for contemporary state and nation building purposes, using examples from state socialism in Eastern Europe and the Holocaust.
Presentations will be followed by a discussion by panelists and audience members. This free event is open to the public. Pay parking is in effect.
