A comprehensive two-day Symposium on Human Rights and Conflict Resolution, sponsored by the Office of Global Learning, will be held at the College at Florham on Tuesday, October 17, and at the Metropolitan Campus on Wednesday, October 18. (See schedule below.)

The symposium will bring together 50 academics from Fairleigh Dickinson and beyond as well as high-level human rights practitioners. Among the featured speakers are Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch; Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, under-secretary-general of the United Nations; Simon Deng, a former child slave and adviser to President Bush on the Darfur genocide; and Eleanor Acer, director of the Asylum project of Human Rights First. Topics to be addressed include human rights and the “war on terrorism,” child soldiers, the realities of torture, religious values and human rights, peacemaking strategies for Israel/Palestine, international and local aspects of sex trafficking, the truth and reconciliation process, health issues and human rights and many others. Four of the workshops will be led by student representatives from campus organizations.

It is anticipated that the symposium will attract students and faculty from FDU, neighboring colleges and select high schools, as well as the community at large.

“The Symposium on Human Rights and Conflict Resolution, in the range of its topics and in its scope, is a first for the University,” said Elise Salem, associate provost for global learning (Metro/Flor). “It promises to be a launching point for new programs and courses in fulfillment of the University’s global mission.”

To register and for up-to-date information, call 201-692-7360 or visit the Web site http://www.globaleducation.edu .

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Tuesday, October 17
College at Florham

12:30–1 p.m.
Registration, Great Hall, The Mansion

1–1:30 p.m.
Opening Plenary Session

Welcome and Opening Statements
Elise Salem
Associate Provost for Global Learning (Metro/Flor), Professor of English (Flor), Fairleigh Dickinson University

Willard Gingerich
University Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs (Metro/Flor), Professor of English, Fairleigh Dickinson University

Salina Singleton
Student Coordinator, Office of Global Learning (Metro), Fairleigh Dickinson University

The Significance of Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Today
Joseph Chuman
Symposium Organizer; Philosophy Faculty (Metro), Fairleigh Dickinson University; Leader, Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County

1:45–3 p.m.
Parallel Sessions

The War on Terrorism and Its Consequences for Human Rights
Reed Brody
Advocacy Director, Human Rights Watch, and FDU alumnus, BA’74 (Flor)

Peacekeeping Without Illusions: My Role as a U.N. Peacekeeper”
Kenneth Cain
Author and Former U.N. Peacekeeper in Somalia, Cambodia, Rwanda and Liberia

3:15–4:15 p.m.
Concurrent Workshops I

The Realities of Torture, Personal and Political
Carol Prendergast
Director of Operations, Bellevue/New York University Survivors of Torture Clinic

Sowore Omoyele
Torture Survivor; Graduate of School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University

Child Soldiers
David Rosen
Professor of Anthropology (Flor), Fairleigh Dickinson University

Vanessa Shields
Program Manager, Juarez & Associates; and Alumna, BA’03 (Flor)

Peter Woolley
Professor of Political Science and Director of PublicMind (Flor), Fairleigh Dickinson University

The Persecution of Writers
Anna Kushner
Coordinator, Freedom to Write Program, PEN American Center

Pierre Mujomba
Award-winning Congolese Playwright

Creating a Vital Campus Chapter of Amnesty International
Gabe Espinal, Wei-Wei Hsing, Emily Setton
Columbia University Student Representatives of Amnesty International

Sindhuri Prakash
Fairleigh Dickinson University Student Representative of Amnesty International

4:30–5:30 p.m.
Concurrent Workshops II

China, Censorship and Internet Freedom
Michael Santoro
Professor of International Business, Rutgers University

We Don’t Want You: The Fate of Political Asylum Seekers in the United States
Eleanor Acer
Director, Political Asylum Project, Human Rights First

Student Activism Against Exploitation in the Developing World
Sara Doskow, Jessie Leiken and Ev Yankey
Student Activists, Columbia University

Gender and Human Rights
Panelists to be announced

5:30–6 p.m.
Coffee Break and Assemble for Keynote Address

6–7 p.m.
Keynote Address

Introduction
J. Michael Adams
President, Fairleigh Dickinson University

Human Rights
Kenneth Roth
Executive Director, Human Rights Watch

7:15 p.m.
Dinner

Wednesday, October 18
Metropolitan Campus

9:30–10 a.m.
Registration, Lobby, Dickinson Hall

10–11 a.m.
Keynote Address

Conflict Resolution
Ibrahim Agboola Gambari
Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, United Nations

11:15 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Parallel Sessions

The Truth and Reconciliation Process
Ahmad Kamal
Founder and President, Ambassador’s Club at the United Nations; Former Ambassador of Pakistan to the United Nations; and Honorary Visiting Professor (Flor), Fairleigh Dickinson University

Dumisani Kumalo
Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations

Genocide in Darfur
Simon Deng
Former Child Slave, Spokesperson on Darfur Genocide and Adviser to President George W. Bush

Zeinab Eyega
Founder, Center for African Women

12:45–2 p.m.
Lunch

2:15–3:15 p.m.
Concurrent Workshops I

Strategies for Peace-making in Israel/Palestine
Leonard Grob
Professor of Philosophy (Metro), Fairleigh Dickinson University

Mike Kelly
Senior Correspondent, The Record

Riad Nasser
Associate Professor of Sociology (Flor), Fairleigh Dickinson University

Making Student Voices Count in the Global Arena
Shahram Hashemi
Executive Director, Student World Assembly

Tatiana Kotlyarenko and Janine Palludan
Student World Assembly Organizers and Columbia University Students

Human Rights and Religion: A Religious Trialogue
Fr. Jack Baron
Director, Campus Ministry (Metro), Fairleigh Dickinson University

Ibrahim Abdul-Malik
Faculty (Metro), Fairleigh Dickinson University

Rabbi Melissa Weintraub
Jewish Theological Seminary

Women, Students and Democratization in Africa
Peter Benson
Associate Professor of English (Metro), Fairleigh Dickinson University

Paula Hooper Mayhew
Professor of English Literature (Metro), Fairleigh Dickinson University

Austin Ogunsuyi
Core Faculty (Metro), Fairleigh Dickinson University

Bamidele Ojo
Professor of Political Science (Metro), Fairleigh Dickinson University

3:30–4:30 p.m.
Concurrent Workshops II

Student Activism and Human Rights in the Developing World
Three Representatives from Columbia University’s Human Rights Advocates Program

International Sex Trafficking Globally and in Our Backyard
Keyla Rodriquez
Victims Specialist, Victims Service, FBI, Newark, N.J., office

Carol Smolenski
Executive Director, ECPAT-USA (End of Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking)

Health Issues and Human Rights
Phyllis Hansell
Dean, College of Nursing, Seton Hall University

Kathleen Motacki
Pediatric Nurse, Lecturer in Nursing (Metro), Fairleigh Dickinson University

The War on Terrorism and the Erosion of American Freedoms
Ed Barocas
Legal Director, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Jersey

4:30–5 p.m.
Coffee Break

5–6 p.m.
Closing Plenary

Where Do We Go From Here?: Human Rights and Conflict Resolution in the Future of Fairleigh Dickinson University
Willard Gingerich
University Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Professor of English, Fairleigh Dickinson University

Elise Salem
Associate Provost for Global Learning (Metro/Flor), Professor of English (Flor), Fairleigh Dickinson University

Joseph Chuman
Symposium Organizer; Philosophy Faculty (Metro), Fairleigh Dickinson University; Leader, Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County

Salina Singleton
Student Coordinator, Office of Global Learning (Metro), Fairleigh Dickinson University

September 2006

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Flor =
College at Florham, Madison, N.J.

Metro =
Metropolitan Campus, Teaneck, N.J.

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