March 28 & 29, 2014
Weber State University
Ogden, Utah

Call for Papers

On April 7th the world will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. The genocide itself claimed almost one million lives within 100 days. The aftermath would see an additional one million individuals processed through the gacaca courts and future generations fundamentally altered.

A survey of the literature demonstrates that the analysis and examination of the Rwandan genocide has crossed multiple disciplines, but rarely do they come together to share their insights. This small conference will offer an interdisciplinary forum in which we examine and discuss various facets of the Rwandan genocide, its aftermath, and its impact. We are seeking a broad spectrum of papers and/or panels which relate to some aspect of the 1994 genocide. One goal of this conference will be to publish a selection of papers as an edited collection.

Various themes could include (but are not limited to):

· Gender: Women as perpetrators, rape as genocide, gender victimization during or in the aftermath, women-headed households, medical care, HIV and/ or children of rape

· Children: children as perpetrators, victimization during and in the aftermath, orphans, orphan-headed households, youth organizations working towards reconciliation

· Law and/or transitional justice: gacaca, national courts, ICTR, various comparisons such as gender related justice/injustices, reparations, compensation, and/or various other aspects of transitional justice

· Communication: Social media, propaganda before/during/after, use of technology or media during the genocide or as part of the reconciliation efforts, educational efforts, and/or political narratives

· Actors: perpetrator behavior, resistance, rescue, bystander mentality, survivors, individual or collective narratives, or other related discussions

· Artistic Expression: theater production, artwork, photography, music, artistic expression as a way to bring about reconciliation or to work through trauma

· Testimony: how or why do those who survive engage in testimony or witnessing the event, the use of language, the politics or impact of narratives, and/or the role of scholars in documenting atrocities

· Commemoration: Memorials, commemoration days/weeks, inclusion or exclusion in museums, the creation of museums, memorials, the politics of commemoration, the use of the remains in memorials, and/or the politics relating to memorials/commemorations, and other related issues

Paper proposals not exceeding 350 words with a short CV should be sent to: Dr. Stephanie Wolfe at stephaniewolfe@weber.edu. Abstracts are due by December 1st.

Keynote speakers and/or other information forthcoming.