Resisting Reconciliation

From Therese Siebert, Sociology and Anthropology:

Resisting Reconciliation?
The Challenges of Justice in Post-Genocide Rwanda

Professor Susan Thomson
Monday, October 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Mabel Brown Room

Dr. Thomson will discuss research from her upcoming book Resisting Reconciliation: State Power and Everyday Life that will be published by the University of Wisconsin in 2011. As a lawyer and political scientist, Dr. Thomson brings a wide array of intellectual insight and field research on Rwanda’s efforts toward reconciliation. While conducting her research in Rwanda in 2006, the Rwandan government halted her research and required her to participate in a “Re-education Program.” This experience gave her insight into this aspect of Rwanda. Professor Thomson additionally brings years of field experience in other parts of Africa to our campus, having worked for the United Nations and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). She has conducted fieldwork in conflict zones, documented rape as a war crime, and trained Rwandan lawyers in human rights law. She has published journal articles, book reviews, op-eds, and a blog, “Democracy Watch - Rwanda 2010.” She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Hampshire College in contemporary African politics, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.