Genocide, Rescue and Prevention Conference - May 8, 2009

Conference schedule

8:15 a.m.         Continental breakfast

8:50 a.m.         Welcome

Ben Kiernan, Director, Genocide Studies Program

David H. Smith, Director, Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics

Part 1.Challenges for Research

Moderator: Julius Landwirth, Associate Director, Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics

8:55 a.m.         Ben Kiernan, introduction of Prof. Dori Laub

9 a.m.               Opening Address

In Search of the Memory of Rescue

Dori Laub, MD, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Deputy Director, Trauma Studies, Genocide Studies Program, Yale University

 9:35 a.m.        Commemorating and Researching Rescue Behavior: A Transitional

Justice Perspective

Ron Dudai, Visiting Lecturer, Centre for Applied Human Rights, University of York, U.K.

10:10 a.m.       Psychology of Heroic Altruism and Rescue Behavior

Ervin Staub, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Massachusetts- Amherst

10:35 a. m.      The Sociology of Rescue Behavior

Nechama Tec, Professor Emerita of Sociology, University of Connecticut

11:05 a.m.       Question & Answer session

11:30 a.m.       Roundtable discussion

Comparative Rescue Behavior in Diverse Settings of Genocide

Holocaust:  Kristen Monroe, Professor of Political Science, University of California, Irvine

Rwanda:  Gerd Hankel, Senior Research Fellow, Lecturer, International Public and International Criminal Law, Hamburg Institute for Social Research

Cambodia:  Socheata Poeuv, Director, Khmer Legacies; Visiting Fellow, Genocide Studies Program, Yale University

Bosnia:  Jasmina Besirevic-Regan, Lecturer, Ethics, Politics & Economics, Yale University

Iraq:  Etelle Higonnet, Analysis Director, Iraq History Project, International Human Rights Law Group, DePaul University School of Law

12:45 p.m.       Question & Answer session

1:05 p.m.         Lunch

Part 2. Implications for Genocide Prevention:

Can Rescue Behavior be Taught?

Moderator: Ben Kiernan, Director, Genocide Studies Program

1:50 p.m.         Promoting Rescue Behavior as a Strategy for Genocide Prevention

Andrea Bartoli, Professor of Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, and founder, Genocide Prevention Program, Columbia University

2:15 p.m.         Relevance of Understanding Rescue Behavior for Peacebuilding

Programs

Olivia Dreier, Associate Director, Karuna Center for Peacebuilding, Amherst, MA

2:40 p.m.         Question & Answer session

3:00 p.m.         Roundtable discussion

Implications for Education

Can Rescue Behavior be Taught ?  

Elizabeth Midlarsky, Professor of Psychology and Education, Columbia University

The Role of Graphic Arts in Teaching About Rescue Behavior

Leora Kahn, Visiting Fellow, Genocide Studies Program, Yale University

Religious Studies and Heroic Rescue Behavior  

Jan Holton, Assistant Professor, Pastoral Care and Counseling, Yale Divinity School

The Brain, Dehumanization and Altruism

Lasana Harris, Post Doctoral Fellow, Psychology, New York University

4:00 p.m.         Question & Answer session

4:15 p.m.         Closing Panel

Reactions and Thoughts for the Future

                            Panelists: Ervin Staub, Nechama Tec, Ron Dudai, Dori Laub