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KSU Annual May 4th Symposium on Democracy

Posted Mar. 4, 2011

Kent State University’s Annual May 4th Symposium on Democracy: Democracy and Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

April 28-29, 2011

Kent State University presents the 12th Annual Symposium on Democracy. Held in commemoration of the events of May 4, 1970, the symposium takes place April 28-29 in Oscar Ritchie Hall and is sponsored by the university¹s Department of History, Department of Pan-African Studies and Women¹s Studies Program, with funding from the Office of the President and the College of Arts and Sciences. The Symposium on Democracy is free and open to the public.

This year's symposium brings national and international experts to Kent State to examine the critical issues of war-related sexual violence, the representation of women, extractive industries and existing and potential democratic grassroots efforts in the conflict zones.

The symposium features conference panels, workshops and speakers. The keynote speaker is René Lemarchand, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Florida. Lemarchand is an expert on the genocides and ethnic conflicts in Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He has authored numerous books and articles. His most recent book is ³The Dynamics of Violence in Central Africa² (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008). Lemarchand¹s keynote address is April 28 at 5 p.m. in Oscar Ritchie Hall, room 214

Program

April 1-29

Photo Exhibit

Aubrey Graham: “Beyond the ‘Victim’: Images of the Daily Lives of Women ‘Victims of Sexual Violence in the Eastern DRC” 		ORH Gallery


April 25
7:00-9:00

Film

The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo (76 min)  Introduction and Commentary, Dr. Suzanne Holt, Director Women’s Studies Program 		 ORH 214


Thursday April 28
9:00-9:15

Opening of Conference

 ORH 214

9:15-10:45


Panel 1: Democracy in the Congo

Moderator: Timothy Scarnecchia (Kent State University)

Jack Mangala (Grand Valley State University): "Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in Eastern Congo: Humanitarian and Security Dynamics."

Theodore Kasongo Kamwimbi (Projects Abroad Human Rights Office); "Extra-Judicial Mechanisms for Peace Building and Conflict Resolution in the DR Congo."

Jacques Bahati (Africa Faith and Justice Network): "Democratic Solution to the DRC Crisis."
ORH 214

11:00-12:30


Panel 2: Sexual Violence

Moderator: Monika J. Flaschka (Kent State University)

Katie Smyser (Ohio University): "Inauspicious Company: Rape in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in Historical Perspective."

Casey Clevenger (Brandeis University) and Bienvenu Mayemba (Jesuit School of Theology): "Naming, Denouncing, and Deconstructing the Spiral of Violence Facing African Women: Sociological and Theological Perspectives on the DR Congo."

Linda Devereux (University of New South Wales): "Interrogating Silence: Working Towards an Understanding of War-Related Sexual Violence."
ORH 214

1:45-3:00


Undergraduate Student Panel
ORH 250

3:00-4:30


Panel 3: The Representation of Women

Moderator: Wendy Wilson-Fall (Kent State University)

Rebecca Gimbel (Rice University): "Contrasting Military Rape in Extractive Economies and Relief Zones."

Ngwarsungu Chiwengo (Creighton University): "Mediated Voices of Maimed Congolese Female Bodies: Representation of Rape in Congo DRC."

Aubrey Graham (Emory University): "The Visual Anatomy of Sexual Violence: Examining the Intersection of Photographic Portraits and NGO funding in the DRC."
ORH 214

5:00-6:30


Keynote Session

Keynote Speaker: Rene Lemarchand (Professor of Political Science, University of Florida): "The Great Lakes Crisis: Making the Unspeakable Comprehensible."
ORH 214
     


Friday April 29
9:00-10:30

Workshop

Extractive Industries and Political Stability: Dr. Jeffrey Mantz (George Mason University)
 ORH 250

10:45-12:30


Panel 4: Extractive Industries and the Ethics of Intervention

Moderator: Jeffrey Mantz (George Mason University)

Theodore Trefon (Royal Museum for Central Africa): "Aid Inefficiency and Agency in the Democratic Republic of the Congo."

Thomas Turner (Independent Scholar): "Does Your Cell Phone Cause Rape?"

Hazel Cameron (University of St. Andrews): "Is the British Government Complicit in the Exploitation of Resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?"
ORH 214

PARKING: parking for the conference is available at the Business Lot (R-2) and the Visitor's Parking Lot, outside the Kent Student Center.

SYMPOSIUM CONTACTS: Monika Flaschka,Department of History, mflashk@kent.edu Timothy Scarnecchia, Department of History, tscarnec@kent.edu Wendy Wilson-Fall, Department of Pan-African Studies, wwilson1@kent.edu Suzanne Holt, Women Studies Program slholt@kent.edu

Conference is free and open to the public.