News
International Education Week
to honor Alison Des Forges
UB’s annual celebration of International Education Week will take on a special dimension this year as it highlights the legacy of Alison L. Des Forges, the late human rights advocate and MacArthur Fellow who was killed in the 2009 crash of Continental Connection Flight 3047 in Clarence Center.
To be held Nov. 15-19, International Education Week (IEW) is a joint initiative of the U.S. departments of State and Education to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to experience the U.S.
A variety of events will take place across the North Campus, among them film screenings, lectures, art exhibitions and academic presentations on topics ranging from Korean holidays and Chinese culture to climate change, sex trafficking and global health research. Throughout the week, student groups will demonstrate multicultural crafts and martial arts, and perform dances from India, the Philippines, Latin America, Korea and the Middle East in the Student Union lobby.
Des Forges, wife of UB history professor Roger Des Forges, served as an adjunct member of the UB history faculty during the 1990s and received an honorary doctorate from SUNY during UB’s 155th general commencement ceremony in 2001. She was an internationally known human right advocate and one of the world’s leading experts on the war-torn African nation of Rwanda. Her award-winning book, “Leave None to Tell the Story,” is recognized internationally as the authoritative document on the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Ellen Dussourd, director of the Office of International Student and Scholar Services, says the organizing committee was honored to dedicate this year’s IEW to Des Forges. “Dr. Des Forges was an inspirational and tireless advocate for human rights,” Dussourd says. “Through IEW 2010, we hope to offer the campus community an opportunity to reflect on her work and learn more about human rights.”
Helene Kramer, chair of the Alison L. Des Forges Memorial Fund Committee and executive director of Read to Succeed Buffalo, was pleased when Dussourd approached the committee a year ago to ask for help organizing the 2010 IEW theme. One of Des Forges’ close friends, Kramer is especially appreciative of a special remembrance session to be held from 3-4 p.m. Nov. 18 in 210 Student Union, where colleagues, friends and family will speak about Des Forges on a personal level. “This event is a wonderful way to honor her, and consistent with our mission to help keep the idea of human rights work in the public eye,” Kramer says, adding, “While so many people publicly knew Alison for her commitment and valor as a relentless human rights scholar-activist, she was also a wife, mother, friend, grandmother, colleague, mentor—so much more to those of us who knew her personally.”
Roger Des Forges says he and his family are pleased that UB, and especially the Office of International Student and Scholar Services, is mounting these events and dedicating them to the memory of his late wife and the cause of human rights around the world.
“They are very much in the spirit of close cooperation to promote both domestic and international justice and peace, which animated Alison’s life and work,” Des Forges says. “I hope and trust they will inspire many to help perpetuate her legacy of dogged persistence in the face of what will almost certainly continue to be daunting challenges.”
In keeping with its theme, “Human Rights in Perspective: A Tribute to Alison Des Forges,” International Education Week will present two keynote lectures on central Africa, beginning at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 15 in the Student Union Theater: “Rwanda, Darfur and Guantanamo: The Struggle for Human Rights and Justice” will be the topic of a talk by Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watch’s International Justice Program, and “Challenges of Justice in Central Africa” is the title of a lecture to be delivered by Susan Thomson, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Contemporary African Politics at Hampshire College.
Two recent films about Africa also will be screened as part of the celebration. “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” (2008) will be shown at 7 p.m. on Nov. 16 in the Student Union Theatre, and “The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court” (2009) will be shown at 4 p.m. on Nov. 17 in 220 Natural Sciences Complex. Claude Welch, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Political Science and a longtime colleague and friend of Alison Des Forges, will offer a commentary after the screening of “The Reckoning.”
IEW events at UB are made possible through support from AT&T, Bank of America, Haylor, Freyer & Coon Inc., HSBC Bank, M&T Bank and the UB Office of International Education.
For the full schedule of International Education Week events, visit the International Student and Scholar Services website.
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