New College’s Equity Studies Program is bringing together scholars, activists, artists, and students whose work examines historicized social injustices for the international conference, Reclaiming Justice: Memory and Memorialization of Violence. Running from October 25 – 27, 2019, the conference aims to put past struggles for decolonization into conversation with contemporary resurgences and explore these events through the lens of performance.
“Although there exist a number of regional investigations of remembrance and memorialization initiatives in the aftermath and afterlife of political violence, rarely do they center on feminist analyses of Indigeneity, racialization, gender, sexuality and class,” says Dr. Shahrzad Mojab, Director of the Equity Studies Program. “We hope that by bringing together Indigenous and feminist scholars, artists and activists from around the world, we can engage in critical dialogue on this topic.”
The conference organizers hope this gathering will highlight the legacy and continuities of colonial violence. Indigenous scholars will present on memory and memorialization of violence as complex and interconnected relations of social, historical, and artistic modes of resistance. International participants from Sri Lanka, Guatemala, Peru, Jamaica and Iran will present on transitional justice, political prisoners, remembering, testimonies, and memorializing violence.
The conference aims to build solidarity with diverse communities of newcomers including Iranians, Kurdish, and Afghans, where the topics under discussion will provide new ways of understanding and exploring memory and memorization of war, colonialism, imperialism, displacement and resettling.
Highlights include:
- A keynote address by Erna Brodber, After the Looking Glass
- Panel discussions including:
- Resisting Violence, Making Memory and Demanding Justice
- Archives of Violence in the Middle East
- Prison Poetry Book Launch: Lives Lost: In Search of a New Tomorrow
- Music Performance by Moneka Arabic Jazz
- Film Screening: Born in Evin
All events are free and open to the public.
For more information and a complete agenda, visit the event page.