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Genocide Ideology and Denial in Rwanda
March 9, 2023 @ 11:30 am - 1:00 pm
UMSI welcomes guest speaker Jean-Damascène Gasanabo, PhD, former Director General of the Research and Documentation Center on Genocide at the Rwanda National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG).
The presentation will take place at the School of Information in North Quad Space 2435 and online.
Abstract
Despite the unequivocal evidence that the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi occurred in Rwanda, some still endeavour to expunge that atrocity from historical records. All genocide starts with a destructive ideology and followed afterwards by denial. This talk will re-examine the concepts of genocide ideology and denial, how they are linked and how they contributed to the killings of Tutsi from 1959 up to 1994. Available literature as well as recent cases will be thoroughly analyzed, both at local and international level, to understand different forms and trends of genocide ideology and denial, with specific emphasis on the Rwandan case.
Sponsored by the University of Michigan School of Information Data, Archives, and Information Seminar; African Studies Center; Museum Studies Program; Ethics, Society and Computing; and Franklin Innovator Residency Fund.
Speaker bio
With a PhD in education from the University of Geneva, I have substantial experience working with the United Nations, international non-governmental organizations, non-profit organizations, and governments on projects related to equitable and sustainable education curricula. As the Director General of the Research and Documentation Center on Genocide at the Rwanda National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), I managed and led research projects as well as designed, implemented, monitored, and assessed projects related to the Genocide against the Tutsi. Key projects included the digitization of forty-five million pages and four thousand audio-visual materials from Rwanda’s Gacaca Courts, the preservation of textiles at the Nyamata genocide memorial site, the preservation of bodies at the Murambi genocide memorial site, and the preservation of artifacts in six other national genocide memorial sites in Rwanda. Between 2013 and 2015, I also participated in a team responsible for designing Rwanda’s new national education curriculum for history and civic education. I am currently a Consultant with the International Labour Organization (ILO) for their Accelerator Lab 8.7 Program, which provides funding and support to international organizations with innovative solutions to tackle child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking.
