Oct. 17-18 Pauley Symposium to examine history, truth, reconciliation

Released on 09/24/2012, at 12:00 AM
Office of University Communications
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Lincoln, Neb., September 24th, 2012 —

Issues such as religion, nationality, ethnicity and race will take center stage Oct. 17-18 when the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Department of History hosts the annual Carroll R. Pauley Memorial Symposium. The public is welcome to attend the series of free lectures on the theme “History, Truth and Reconciliation.”

Speakers will address the challenges and successes of using history to promote conflict resolution in contemporary societies. These societies range from South Africa to Vietnam, to Canada and America.

The lecture series honors UNL alumnus Carroll R. Pauley, class of 1930. The series features the best of current research in the field of history, reaches beyond the academy, to interest and inspire the public, and enhances a broad understanding of the past. Pauley’s son, Bruce Pauley, established the endowment that created the series as a way to honor his father who had a lifelong passion for history. The lectures follow:

Oct. 17, 7 p.m. -- In conjunction with the E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues, the symposium will welcome keynote speaker Charles Villa-Vicencio, a South African theologian regarded as a global authority in the area of transitional justice. He will present “Violence, Religion, Financial Muscle and Liberation: Can Africa Heal Itself?” at the Lied Center for Performing Arts, 301 N. 12th St.

Oct. 18 (all in the Nebraska Union auditorium, 14th and R streets): 8:45 a.m. -- Elazar Barkan, professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University and director of Columbia’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights, will present “Beyond Accountability: Historical Dialogue and Conflict Resolution.” 9:45 a.m. -- Alexander Byrd, associate professor of history at Rice University, will present “Intransigent Blackness: Houston’s African American High Schools since Brown.” 11:15 a.m. -- J.R. Miller, Canada research chair in native-newcomer relations at the University of Saskatchewan, will present “History Rediscovered and Refashioned: The Role of History in Canadians’ Pursuit of Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples since the 1970s.” 1:30 p.m. -- Christina Schwenkel, associate professor of anthropology at the University of California, Riverside, will present “The Ambivalence of Reconciliation in Vietnam.”

 

Writer: Jean Ortiz Jones, University Communications, 402-472-8320, jean@unl.edu

 

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