Upcoming Events
Seeing Like a Scott
A Week-long Retrospective on the Research and Practice of James Scott
April 19-26, 2023
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Prof. James Scott is the Sterling Professor of Political Science and co-Director of the Agrarian Studies Program and (as he says very quickly) a mediocre farmer. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has held grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as the Agrarian Studies program the Guggenheim Foundation. Professor Scott's work has had a tremendous influence on critical thinking about resistance, rebellion, state-formation, state-maintenance as well as how to be a scholar who is concerned with socio-political justice - among other areas. The author of a classic series of incredibly insightful and influential books, The New York Times described his work as "highly influential and idiosyncratic" noting that “he’s...the kind of big thinker (and stylish writer)...who has all but disappeared in his field: the last of a breed of wide-angled 20th-Century social theorists, going back to Max Weber, to marry the insights of social science to the broad sweep of history” (New York Times, 2012).
To celebrate Prof. Scott and his work as well to engage with him in a sustained and varied manner, CPRD brings him to the University of Michigan for a week of conversation, a lecture, some meals, some coffee and most likely a "Mindwalk" or two. The jewels in the visit will be two lectures from Professor Scott and a roundtable that will offer personal, intellectual and professional comments about his influence. These are outlined below:
The first lecture is entitled "Decentralized Resistance". This will take place on April 21st (Friday) @ Weiser Hall on the 10th Floor (CPRD &WCED), 5-7pm. Here is the abstract:
The premise is that, both historically and today, most acts of resistance to systems of power, hierarchy, and exploitation do not take the form of social movements with names, official-holders, flags, rules of order, headquarters, and initials (e.g., NAACP, ACLU, BLM, AfD). There are at least two reasons, I propose, that help explain this fact. First, historically open resistance for most of the world’s population, living in undemocratic settings, is dangerous, even fatal. When it occurs, it is an act of desperation. Second, even in relatively permissive political settings, the transaction costs of creating formal organizations are often so great that smaller, informal, and individual acts of resistance are simpler to pull off and often safer as well. The aggregation of thousands of such acts of resistance (e.g. desertion, squatting, poaching) may, over time, achieve more at a defacto level than open, publicly-declared resistance.
Thus, what we will be examining is what might be called “everyday resistance.” We will assess whether the term “resistance” even makes sense in this context; we will examine instances of it historically; we will consider both its objectives and the likelihood that they can be achieved in this manner; and we will ask what the consequences for political life and social organization such techniques imply.
If you want to zoom it, click below:
Second, we will have a retrospective roundtable on the Professional, Personal and Intellectual influence of Professor Scott Retrospective in ISR Room 1430 from 2:30-4pm. This will involve:
- Arun Agrawal (Natural Resources and Environment),
- Christian Davenport (Political Science and Public Policy),
- Jaeeun Kim (Sociology), Mike McGovern (Anthropology) and, of course,
- James Scott (Political Science and Anthropology)
Third and last, we will end with another lecture from Professor Scott entitled “In Praise of Floods”. This will take place on April 25th (Tuesday) @ Weiser Hall on the 10th Floor (CPRD & WCED), 5-7pm. Here is the abstract
An ecological and social hymn to the good work floods do for non-humans and for Homo sapiens alike. An examination of the “flood pulse” as a river’s lungs and the nutrition it provides to all riverine creatures. Virtually all “civilizations’ are dependent on the ever-renewed fertility of floodplain soils. Human engineering has radically simplified river hydrology, the way taxidermy or amputations might destroy a living being, so that rivers can be navigation canals, water storage, sewage conduits, hydroelectric sites, irrigation reservoirs, and flood free. Disturbance ecology teaches us, on the contrary, how the “edge environments’ and “eco-tones” created by ‘naturally occurring floods and fires promote bio-diversity. The simplification of river hydrology has set the stage for “iatrogenic” (illness caused by previous ‘treatment’) river ailments including massive floods.
If you want to zoom it, click below:
Past Events
Thursday
Short Course: Latent Variable Models with R and STAN, 3:30-6:00pm
Institute for Social Research, Room 1430
Dr. Chris Fariss will be teaching a short course, Introduction to Latent Variable Models with R and STAN. This course will provide an introduction to latent variable models generally with a practical focus on implementing them in R using the rstan library. The course emphasizes the use of construct validity to assess new and existing measures in applied research. We will implement several latent variable model examples together during the 2.5 hour workshop. Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the RSTAN website: http://mc-stan.org/rstan/. Participants should come with R, Rstudio (optional), and the stan library pre-installed on their laptops.
Friday
Panels, 9am-5pm
Weiser Hall, 10th Floor
Panel I: Coercion & Repression, 9:00-10:30am
- Lora DiBlasi (Michigan State University): The Leader’s Toolkit: How Leaders Choose their Tools of Repression
- Sasha de Vogel (University of Michigan): Information, Concessions and Reneging in Authoritarian Regimes
- Gregory Smith (Ohio State University): Power Today is Not Power Tomorrow: Adaptation and the Declining Effectiveness of Coercion
- Ingrid Vik Bakken (Norwegian University of Science & Technology): Sexualized Repression and Women’s Political Organization
Panel II: Attitudes & Ideology, 10:45am-12:15pm
- Cem Emrence (University of Michigan): When do Denunciations Feed Selective Violence in Civil War: The Role of Ideology
- Kathleen Gergely (Indiana University): Why Chechnya: Chechen Independence in Comparative Perspective
- Victoria Gurevich (Ohio State University): Returning Female Foreign Fighters: Motivational and Experiential Differences of the Women of ISIL
- Caleb Lucas (Michigan State University): Media Matters: Civilian Attitude Formation During Conflict
Panel III: Non-Traditional Actors in Conflict, 1:45-3:15pm
- Tom O’Mealia (University of Michigan): Local Trust in UN Peacekeeping: Survey Evidence from DR Congo
- Noah Schouela (University of Chicago): Criminal-Civilian Relations in the Mexican Drug War
- Corina Simonelli (University of Michigan): Targeted Sanctions and Rebel Behaviors in Civil Wars
- Natán Skigin (University of Notre Dame): The Unintended Consequences of Democratic Reforms: Electronic Voting and Criminal Violence in Brazil
Panel IV: Legacies of Violence, 3:30-5:00pm
- Kristin Foringer (University of Michigan): Negotiating the Boundaries of Post-Conflict Victimhood: The Political Construction of a Victim Category in Colombia's Victims' Law of 2011
- Helal Khan (University of Notre Dame): Conflict Analysis at a Migration Environment: From Group Discords to Violence in the Structure
- Anil Menon (University of Michigan): Warring Memories: The Political Behavior Legacies of World War II in Germany Rebecca Savelsberg (University of Michigan): Overcoming the Shadow of Violence: Narratives of Perpetration and Temporal Variation in Violence against Refugees
This conference is sponsored by the University of Michigan Department of Political Science, International Institute, International Policy Center, Center for Political Studies, Rackham Graduate School, and the College of LSA.
This is the second conference. The link to the first is here.
This is the second conference. The link to the first is here.
RUBIN SPEAKER SERIES
As part of the Rubin Speaker Series, the following speakers will be visiting Michigan to give talks on their respective fields of research. More details about the talks can be found here
LASON LYALL (YALE): "INEQUALITY AND BATTLEFIELD PERFORMANCE"
APRIL 22 (MON), 2019
4:00 - 5:30 PM
ELDERSVELD ROOM (HAVEN HALL 5670)
Jason Lyall is Associate Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Political Violence FieldLab at Yale University. He is also affiliated with Yale’s Institution for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS), Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, and the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies. He is also a member of the Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP) network.
His research examines the effects and effectiveness of political violence in civil and conventional wars. On-going research projects are investigating (1) how violence and aid affect civilian attitudes and behavior in violent settings; (2) how ethnic inequality shapes the battlefield performance of conventional armies, including the propensity of soldiers to desert and defect; and (3) the role of airpower in modern wars. His research draws on diverse methods and languages, ranging from macrohistorical data and field, survey, and natural experiments to archival research and participant observation. He has conducted fieldwork in Russia and Afghanistan, where he served as the Technical Adviser for USAID’s Measuring the Impact of Stabilization Initiatives (MISTI) project during 2012-15.
As part of the Rubin Speaker Series, the following speakers will be visiting Michigan to give talks on their respective fields of research. More details about the talks can be found here
LASON LYALL (YALE): "INEQUALITY AND BATTLEFIELD PERFORMANCE"
APRIL 22 (MON), 2019
4:00 - 5:30 PM
ELDERSVELD ROOM (HAVEN HALL 5670)
Jason Lyall is Associate Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Political Violence FieldLab at Yale University. He is also affiliated with Yale’s Institution for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS), Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, and the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies. He is also a member of the Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP) network.
His research examines the effects and effectiveness of political violence in civil and conventional wars. On-going research projects are investigating (1) how violence and aid affect civilian attitudes and behavior in violent settings; (2) how ethnic inequality shapes the battlefield performance of conventional armies, including the propensity of soldiers to desert and defect; and (3) the role of airpower in modern wars. His research draws on diverse methods and languages, ranging from macrohistorical data and field, survey, and natural experiments to archival research and participant observation. He has conducted fieldwork in Russia and Afghanistan, where he served as the Technical Adviser for USAID’s Measuring the Impact of Stabilization Initiatives (MISTI) project during 2012-15.
RUBIN SPEAKER SERIES
As part of the Rubin Speaker Series, the following speakers will be visiting Michigan to give talks on their respective fields of research. More details about the talks can be found here
NELLY LAHOUD (NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION): "THE EVOLUTION OF THE ISLAMIC STATE SEEN THROUGH THE ABBOTTABAD DOCUMENTS"
APRIL 4 (THU), 2019
4:00 - 5:30 PM
ELDERSVELD ROOM (HAVEN HALL 5670)
The 2011 U.S. Special Forces’ raid on Usama Bin Ladin’s (UBL) compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, recovered nearly 470,000 items. These items include internal communications among Al-Qa‘ida (AQ) members, their families and jihadis in the group’s orbit, including the leaders of the parent group of today’s Islamic State. Since these communiqués were not meant for public consumption, they contain the most reliable data of the organizational dynamics of AQ, and the nature of the group’s relationships with states and non-state actors. Lahoud is writing a book based on these internal communiqués. This presentation is divided into two parts. The first part is a guide to the declassified Abbottabad items and the process of identifying the internal communications and coding them. The second part of the presentation focuses on key differences between AQ and the parent group of today’s Islamic State, the group that has eclipsed but not defeated AQ. The Abbottabad documents allow us not just to understand the differences that eventually led to the public divorce between the two groups in February 2014, but they also explain why the Islamic State failed to endure as a territorial entity.
Nelly Lahoud is a senior fellow in New America's International Security program. Dr. Lahoud’s research has focused on the evolution and ideology of al-Qa'ida (AQ) and the ‘Islamic State’ (ISIS/ISIL). She has also published on women's role in AQ and ISIS and the use of anashid (a capella) by these two groups in their media output. She has a Ph.D. from the Research School of Social Sciences — Australian National University. She was a postdoctoral scholar at St. John’s College, University of Cambridge — UK; Rockefeller Fellow in Islamic studies at the Library of Congress; and research fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University. Her previous appointments include being associate professor at the Department of Social Sciences and senior associate at the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point; and assistant professor of political theory, including Islamic political thought, at Goucher College. Lahoud is fluent in Arabic and French.'
JEREMY WEINSTEIN (STANFORD): "PIERCING THE VEIL OF SOVEREIGNTY IN AFRICA"
MARCH 21 (THU), 2019
4:00 - 5:30 PM
ELDERSVELD ROOM (HAVEN HALL 5670)
Jeremy M. Weinstein is a Professor of Political Science and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He is also a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C.
His research focuses on civil wars and political violence; ethnic politics and the political economy of development; and democracy, accountability, and political change. He is the author of Inside Rebellion: The Politics of Insurgent Violence (Cambridge University Press), which received the William Riker Prize for the best book on political economy. He is also the co-author of Coethnicity: Diversity and the Dilemmas of Collective Action (Russell Sage Foundation), which received the Gregory Luebbert Award for the best book in comparative politics. He has published articles in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Annual Review of Political Science, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Journal of Democracy, World Policy Journal, and the SAIS Review.
Weinstein received the International Studies Association’s Karl Deutsch Award in 2013. The award is given to a scholar younger than 40 or within 10 years of earning a Ph.D. who has made the most significant contribution to the study of international relations. He also received the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching at Stanford in 2007.
MELANI CAMMETT (HARVARD) "BOUNDARIES OF INCLUSION: IDENTITY POLITICS IN THE CONTEXT OF INSECURITY"
MARCH 14 (THU), 2019
4:00 - 5:30 PM
ELDERSVELD ROOM (HAVEN HALL 5670)
Melani Cammett is Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs in the Department of Government and chair of the Harvard Academy of International and Area Studies at Harvard. She also holds a secondary faculty appointment in the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. Cammett's books include Compassionate Communalism: Welfare and Sectarianism in Lebanon (Cornell University Press 2014), which won the American Political Science Association (APSA) Giovanni Sartori Book Award and the Honorable Mention for the APSA Gregory Luebbert Book Award; A Political Economy of the Middle East (co-authored with Ishac Diwan, Westview Press 2015); The Politics of Non-State Social Welfare in the Global South (co-edited with Lauren Morris MacLean, Cornell University Press, 2014), which received the Honorable Mention for the ARNOVA book award; and Globalization and Business Politics in North Africa (Cambridge University Press, 2007). Her current research explores governance and social service provision, identity politics and long-term historical roots of development trajectories, primarily in the Middle East. Cammett has published numerous articles in academic and policy journals, consults for development policy organizations, and is the recipient of various fellowships and awards. She currently serves as a Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Syria.
DARA COHEN (HARVARD) "GANG VIOLENCE IN HAITI"
MARCH 11 (MON), 2019
4:00 - 5:30 PM
ELDERSVELD ROOM (HAVEN HALL 5670)
Dara Kay Cohen is a Ford Foundation Associate Professor of Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Her research and teaching interests span the field of international relations, including international security, civil war and the dynamics of violence, and gender and conflict.
Her first book, Rape During Civil War (Cornell University Press, 2016), examines the variation in the use of rape during recent civil conflicts; the research for the book draws on extensive fieldwork in Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste and El Salvador. The book received the 2017 Theodore J. Lowi First Book Award from the American Political Science Association, the 2018 Best Book Awards from the International Security Studies Section (ISSS) and the Feminist Theory and Gender Studies (FTGS) Section of the International Studies Association, and was a finalist for the Woodrow Wilson Book Award of the American Political Science Association. Her current project is focused on the intersection of political violence, public opinion and gender in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
As part of the Rubin Speaker Series, the following speakers will be visiting Michigan to give talks on their respective fields of research. More details about the talks can be found here
NELLY LAHOUD (NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION): "THE EVOLUTION OF THE ISLAMIC STATE SEEN THROUGH THE ABBOTTABAD DOCUMENTS"
APRIL 4 (THU), 2019
4:00 - 5:30 PM
ELDERSVELD ROOM (HAVEN HALL 5670)
The 2011 U.S. Special Forces’ raid on Usama Bin Ladin’s (UBL) compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, recovered nearly 470,000 items. These items include internal communications among Al-Qa‘ida (AQ) members, their families and jihadis in the group’s orbit, including the leaders of the parent group of today’s Islamic State. Since these communiqués were not meant for public consumption, they contain the most reliable data of the organizational dynamics of AQ, and the nature of the group’s relationships with states and non-state actors. Lahoud is writing a book based on these internal communiqués. This presentation is divided into two parts. The first part is a guide to the declassified Abbottabad items and the process of identifying the internal communications and coding them. The second part of the presentation focuses on key differences between AQ and the parent group of today’s Islamic State, the group that has eclipsed but not defeated AQ. The Abbottabad documents allow us not just to understand the differences that eventually led to the public divorce between the two groups in February 2014, but they also explain why the Islamic State failed to endure as a territorial entity.
Nelly Lahoud is a senior fellow in New America's International Security program. Dr. Lahoud’s research has focused on the evolution and ideology of al-Qa'ida (AQ) and the ‘Islamic State’ (ISIS/ISIL). She has also published on women's role in AQ and ISIS and the use of anashid (a capella) by these two groups in their media output. She has a Ph.D. from the Research School of Social Sciences — Australian National University. She was a postdoctoral scholar at St. John’s College, University of Cambridge — UK; Rockefeller Fellow in Islamic studies at the Library of Congress; and research fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University. Her previous appointments include being associate professor at the Department of Social Sciences and senior associate at the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point; and assistant professor of political theory, including Islamic political thought, at Goucher College. Lahoud is fluent in Arabic and French.'
JEREMY WEINSTEIN (STANFORD): "PIERCING THE VEIL OF SOVEREIGNTY IN AFRICA"
MARCH 21 (THU), 2019
4:00 - 5:30 PM
ELDERSVELD ROOM (HAVEN HALL 5670)
Jeremy M. Weinstein is a Professor of Political Science and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He is also a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, D.C.
His research focuses on civil wars and political violence; ethnic politics and the political economy of development; and democracy, accountability, and political change. He is the author of Inside Rebellion: The Politics of Insurgent Violence (Cambridge University Press), which received the William Riker Prize for the best book on political economy. He is also the co-author of Coethnicity: Diversity and the Dilemmas of Collective Action (Russell Sage Foundation), which received the Gregory Luebbert Award for the best book in comparative politics. He has published articles in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Annual Review of Political Science, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Journal of Democracy, World Policy Journal, and the SAIS Review.
Weinstein received the International Studies Association’s Karl Deutsch Award in 2013. The award is given to a scholar younger than 40 or within 10 years of earning a Ph.D. who has made the most significant contribution to the study of international relations. He also received the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching at Stanford in 2007.
MELANI CAMMETT (HARVARD) "BOUNDARIES OF INCLUSION: IDENTITY POLITICS IN THE CONTEXT OF INSECURITY"
MARCH 14 (THU), 2019
4:00 - 5:30 PM
ELDERSVELD ROOM (HAVEN HALL 5670)
Melani Cammett is Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs in the Department of Government and chair of the Harvard Academy of International and Area Studies at Harvard. She also holds a secondary faculty appointment in the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. Cammett's books include Compassionate Communalism: Welfare and Sectarianism in Lebanon (Cornell University Press 2014), which won the American Political Science Association (APSA) Giovanni Sartori Book Award and the Honorable Mention for the APSA Gregory Luebbert Book Award; A Political Economy of the Middle East (co-authored with Ishac Diwan, Westview Press 2015); The Politics of Non-State Social Welfare in the Global South (co-edited with Lauren Morris MacLean, Cornell University Press, 2014), which received the Honorable Mention for the ARNOVA book award; and Globalization and Business Politics in North Africa (Cambridge University Press, 2007). Her current research explores governance and social service provision, identity politics and long-term historical roots of development trajectories, primarily in the Middle East. Cammett has published numerous articles in academic and policy journals, consults for development policy organizations, and is the recipient of various fellowships and awards. She currently serves as a Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Syria.
DARA COHEN (HARVARD) "GANG VIOLENCE IN HAITI"
MARCH 11 (MON), 2019
4:00 - 5:30 PM
ELDERSVELD ROOM (HAVEN HALL 5670)
Dara Kay Cohen is a Ford Foundation Associate Professor of Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Her research and teaching interests span the field of international relations, including international security, civil war and the dynamics of violence, and gender and conflict.
Her first book, Rape During Civil War (Cornell University Press, 2016), examines the variation in the use of rape during recent civil conflicts; the research for the book draws on extensive fieldwork in Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste and El Salvador. The book received the 2017 Theodore J. Lowi First Book Award from the American Political Science Association, the 2018 Best Book Awards from the International Security Studies Section (ISSS) and the Feminist Theory and Gender Studies (FTGS) Section of the International Studies Association, and was a finalist for the Woodrow Wilson Book Award of the American Political Science Association. Her current project is focused on the intersection of political violence, public opinion and gender in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
5 Minute Fiesta!
The goal is to quickly present (4-5 minutes) one idea with visual information in no more than 2 slides. 1-slide decks are welcome. 3 or more slides are not allowed. The title slide counts as a slide. 2 slides only!
Graphs are good. Words are bad.
The presentation can be on anything the presenter would like feedback on. 2-3 minutes for feedback so 5-7 total minutes per person-presentation.
Potential topics: a research design, a counter intuitive result, a research question worth exploring?, a set of survey questions about to go into the field, a model.
Graphs are good. Words are bad.
The presentation can be on anything the presenter would like feedback on. 2-3 minutes for feedback so 5-7 total minutes per person-presentation.
Potential topics: a research design, a counter intuitive result, a research question worth exploring?, a set of survey questions about to go into the field, a model.
ISR Research Center for Group Dynamics: A Social Cognitive Approach to Intergroup Bias
Kerry Kawakami - Professor of Psychology York University,
Monday October 31, 2016 (3:30 PM - 5:00 PM)
Although social psychologists have been studying intergroup biases for almost a century, there is still much to understand about the causes, consequences, and processes related to categorizing people into distinct social groups. Based in part on multidisciplinary work in this area, new methodologies and ways of thinking about stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination abound. Consequently, knowledge about social categorization processes is advancing at a rapid pace. In this talk, I with describe some of the approaches taken by my laboratory to investigate intergroup biases. Specifically, I will present experiments from three distinct projects related to forecasted and actual responses to racism, strategies to reduce intergroup bias, and the role of visual attention in ingroup preference. This research utilizes a diverse set of social cognitive paradigms to explore the mechanisms driving more implicit categorization processes. Together these findings underline the importance of contextual manipulations and momentary motivations on a variety of discriminatory responses and suggest possible ways to improve intergroup relations.
Monday October 31, 2016 (3:30 PM - 5:00 PM)
Although social psychologists have been studying intergroup biases for almost a century, there is still much to understand about the causes, consequences, and processes related to categorizing people into distinct social groups. Based in part on multidisciplinary work in this area, new methodologies and ways of thinking about stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination abound. Consequently, knowledge about social categorization processes is advancing at a rapid pace. In this talk, I with describe some of the approaches taken by my laboratory to investigate intergroup biases. Specifically, I will present experiments from three distinct projects related to forecasted and actual responses to racism, strategies to reduce intergroup bias, and the role of visual attention in ingroup preference. This research utilizes a diverse set of social cognitive paradigms to explore the mechanisms driving more implicit categorization processes. Together these findings underline the importance of contextual manipulations and momentary motivations on a variety of discriminatory responses and suggest possible ways to improve intergroup relations.
Remembering Rwanda 1994 - April 10th, 2014
CPRD is honored to co-host two events with the International Policy Center:
1) The screening of the film Hotel Rwanda (March 24, 2014)
Hotel Rwanda is a 2004 American historical drama film directed by Terry George. It was adapted from a screenplay written by both George and Keir Pearson. Based on real life events in Rwanda during the spring of 1994, the film stars Don Cheadle as hotelier Paul Rusesabagina, who attempts to rescue his fellow citizens from the ravages of the Rwandan Genocide. Sophie Okonedo and Nick Nolte also appear in principal roles. The film, which has been called an African Schindler's List, documents Rusesabagina's acts to save the lives of his family and more than a thousand other refugees, by granting them shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. Hotel Rwanda explores genocide, political corruption, and the repercussions of violence.
Monday, March 24, 2014
7:00 PM- 9:15 PM
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, Annenberg Auditorium
735 S. State Street
1120 Weill Hall
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
2) A lecture "20 Years After the Rwandan Genocide" with Paul Rusesabagina (March 27, 2014)
Thursday, March 27, 2014
4:30 PM-6:00 PM
Rackham Graduate School, Rackham Auditorium
915 E. Washington Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109Paul Rusesabagina
Join in on the discussion on social media using #fordschoolrwanda
In 1994 Paul Rusesabagina, a Hutu manager of a luxury hotel in Rwanda, sheltered over 1,200 people, including his own Tutsi wife and children, saving their lives at a time when extremists massacred more than 800,000 members of the Tutsi and moderate Hutu tribes in just 100 days.
Considered the "Rwandan Schindler," his wrenching story and that of the genocide is chronicled in the critically acclaimed film, Hotel Rwanda, a riveting account of a man finding courage within himself to save others in the midst of his country's darkest moment.
When Rwanda descended into madness, Rusesabagina took action. A fastidious, crafty, and yet highly principled businessman, he resorted to desperate tactics. While militants threatened and surrounded the well-groomed grounds of the hotel, he spent hours on the phone, pleading with influential leaders, his international connections his only defense against attack. He bartered luxury items such as money, gold, cigars, and aged bottles of wine he hoarded in his hotel, for the lives of strangers seeking refuge in the chaos. Miraculously, no one who housed at his hotel died.
He has since founded the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation (HRRF) which provides support, care, and assistance to children orphaned by, and women abused during, the genocide in Rwanda. Lauded by many, he is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Award, and the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award. In 2005 Paul Rusesabagina was awarded theUniversity of Michigan's Wallenberg Medal and offered a lecture in the Power Center.
1) The screening of the film Hotel Rwanda (March 24, 2014)
Hotel Rwanda is a 2004 American historical drama film directed by Terry George. It was adapted from a screenplay written by both George and Keir Pearson. Based on real life events in Rwanda during the spring of 1994, the film stars Don Cheadle as hotelier Paul Rusesabagina, who attempts to rescue his fellow citizens from the ravages of the Rwandan Genocide. Sophie Okonedo and Nick Nolte also appear in principal roles. The film, which has been called an African Schindler's List, documents Rusesabagina's acts to save the lives of his family and more than a thousand other refugees, by granting them shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines. Hotel Rwanda explores genocide, political corruption, and the repercussions of violence.
Monday, March 24, 2014
7:00 PM- 9:15 PM
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, Annenberg Auditorium
735 S. State Street
1120 Weill Hall
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
2) A lecture "20 Years After the Rwandan Genocide" with Paul Rusesabagina (March 27, 2014)
Thursday, March 27, 2014
4:30 PM-6:00 PM
Rackham Graduate School, Rackham Auditorium
915 E. Washington Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109Paul Rusesabagina
Join in on the discussion on social media using #fordschoolrwanda
In 1994 Paul Rusesabagina, a Hutu manager of a luxury hotel in Rwanda, sheltered over 1,200 people, including his own Tutsi wife and children, saving their lives at a time when extremists massacred more than 800,000 members of the Tutsi and moderate Hutu tribes in just 100 days.
Considered the "Rwandan Schindler," his wrenching story and that of the genocide is chronicled in the critically acclaimed film, Hotel Rwanda, a riveting account of a man finding courage within himself to save others in the midst of his country's darkest moment.
When Rwanda descended into madness, Rusesabagina took action. A fastidious, crafty, and yet highly principled businessman, he resorted to desperate tactics. While militants threatened and surrounded the well-groomed grounds of the hotel, he spent hours on the phone, pleading with influential leaders, his international connections his only defense against attack. He bartered luxury items such as money, gold, cigars, and aged bottles of wine he hoarded in his hotel, for the lives of strangers seeking refuge in the chaos. Miraculously, no one who housed at his hotel died.
He has since founded the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation (HRRF) which provides support, care, and assistance to children orphaned by, and women abused during, the genocide in Rwanda. Lauded by many, he is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Award, and the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award. In 2005 Paul Rusesabagina was awarded theUniversity of Michigan's Wallenberg Medal and offered a lecture in the Power Center.
Understanding Political Violence in 1994 Rwanda - A Conference & Reflection (April 10, 2014)
20 years have passed since the political violence in rwanda occurred touching the lives of millions as victims, perpetrators, bystanders and/or refugees/internally displaced persons. While there has been a reasonable amount of attention given to the topic, there have been only a few rigorous efforts put forward to understand what took place. Interestingly, the understanding of what took place has shifted in certain respects from the earlier investigations. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary, the University of Michigan's Conflict & Peace, Research & Development (CPRD) Lab and Ford Public Policy school convenes a meeting of diverse scholars and practicioners in order to assess how the topic has been studied, what is known about what took place, what is not known and what are the implications of rwandan political violence for rwanda, for the study of political conflict and violence, humanitarianism and political order/legitimacy more broadly conceived.
As for the program itself, it will follow the outline below (Participants to be posted shortly):
April 9
- Arrival
April 10
Morning: roundtable
- Researching political conflict and violence in africa (5-10 minutes per panelist)
- Questions, answers & conversations (45 minutes)
Afternoon: public forum
- Introductory comments (10-15 minutes)
- Behavioral contextualization - human rights violation perspective (30 minutes)
- Questions, answers & conversations (45 minutes)
Break (15 minutes)
Afternoon: public forum
-Historical contextualization (40 minutes)
- Legal contextualization (30 minutes)
- Legal contextualization (30 minutes)
- Questions, answers & conversations (45 minutes)
Late afternoon/evening: public forum
- Presentation: "Rwanda 1994, Political Violence and Political Legitimacy" by Christian Davenport and Allan Stam, University of Michigan (45 minutes)
- Questions, answers & conversations (45 minutes)
April 11th
- Departure
We are a Rackham Interdisciplinary Workshop.
