Certificate in the Study of Societies in Transition: Reciprocity, Relationship, and Reconciliation Histories - Testimony and Witness

GEND 3216  Testimony and Witness

Prerequisites:

Any 18 credits

Antirequisites:

GEND 3057 if taken in 20FW

Hours:

3 hours of lecture/seminar per week for a total of 36 hours

Credits:

3

Description:

Students explore trauma theory, the ethics of recognition, Indigenous storytelling, transitional justice, and feminist perspectives to investigate the ethics of witnessing human rights abuses. Testimony to human rights abuse can play a powerful role in demands for justice, redress, and non-recurrence. Yet, testimony can also be met with denial, voyeurism, or misinterpretation. What conditions influence and shape both the sharing of traumatic experiences and the witnessing of human rights testimony?