Human Rights and Genocide Symposium 2016

29 February 2016 Human Rights and Genocide Symposium 2016

The Hobart and William Smith Human Rights and Genocide Symposium is returning with its Spring 2016 Lecture Series focusing on the theme HWS Students Take Action!

The event kicks off on Tuesday, March 1 with an exhibition featuring student presentations in the Vandervort Room of the Scandling Campus Center from 7 to 9 p.m. Through the symposium, members of the HWS community are invited to learn, act and work to mend human rights injustices and genocide. The event is free and open to the public.

The idea to host this event arose from the general belief in the importance of engagement, and making others aware of what is possible to accomplish at HWS, says Elleanor Smith 18, coordinator of the Human Rights and Genocide Symposium. Genocide and human rights violations are contemporary issues that need to be addressed and recognized, and we as college students have the power to make these issues known, and be the initiators of change.

Presentations include:

  • Soren Anders-MacLeod 18, Susannah Berry 16, and Anna Philibert 16 will address how documenting survivors stories can foster an understanding of mass atrocities and prevent future acts.
  • Carmelo Guglielmino 16 will showcase his involvement with The March: Bearing Witness to Hope.
  • Maeve Kline 19 will present Representing Peace Action HWS: The Syrian Refugee Crisis.
  • Colleen Moore 16 will discuss her travel to Copenhagen and work for Lys I Morket, a Denmark-based organization that works to address the lack of access to education in Pakistan.
  • Alexander Sanford 16 will talk about how he helped found Sindhi Foundation, a non-governmental organization for human rights in the Sindh region of Pakistan.
  • Danny Schonning 16 will explore how the UN Relief and Works Agency provides for Palestine refugees from Syria.

The Human Rights and Genocide Symposium was initiated and has been sustained by generous grants from Dr. Edward Franks 72. The Symposium seeks to improve understanding of all life-annihilation processes present in our world and to help participants learn more about the circumstances in which genocide is perpetrated.