Countering Genocide and Hate

What: "Precluding Genocide, Countering Hate: Action-Oriented Idealism for the 21st Century" will be presented Jan. 28 at Cal State Fullerton. Open to the public, the free event is part of a new project that aims to fight hatred and genocide.

When: Saturday, Jan. 28
9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Where: Cal State Fullerton Langsdorf Hall, Room 404
800 N. State College Blvd., Fullerton, 92831

Why: The event is being facilitated by the directors and student interns of the Genocide Preclusion Project.  Launched in August and based at Cal State Fullerton, the project brings students, educators and community activists together to analyze the culture and politics of hate and fear that give rise to genocide, and to devise effective strategies and programs that would see the end of violence and discrimination based on socially defined categories, such as race, gender, class and religion, said Steven Jobbitt, assistant professor of history and a director of the project with Holocaust survivor Jack Pariser.

"Our goal in not simply to find ways to prevent potential genocides from occurring, or to stop them once they have begun," Jobbitt said. "Our goal is to find ways to help build societies in which genocide, violence and discrimination are not even possible."

Keynote: Holocaust survivor and project co-founder Jack Pariser will deliver the keynote address. His work provides the basis for the project's action-oriented idealism, Jobbitt said. Morning and afternoon sessions facilitated by student interns will follow Pariser's address. The workshop will conclude with a critical discussion of the project's short- and long-term plans.

Schedule:

• 9-10 a.m. — Keynote address by Holocaust survivor Jack Pariser
• 10:15 a.m.-noon — A discussion titled "Roadblocks to Preclusion? The Problematic Politics of Activism and Human Rights Intervention" will be presented by graduate history major Joe Eggleston and political science major William Rodarte-Ochoa. Eggelston will discuss his work as an activist and the current limitations of human rights interventions in the developing world. Rodarte-Ochoa will discuss his research on the politics and theory of human rights interventions in Africa.
• 1-2:45 p.m. — "Countering Hate: A Critical Discussion of Anti-Muslim/Anti-Immigrant Discourse and Practice in the U.S. Today (And How We Should Respond)" will be presented by graduate history major Maryam Morsali Sullivan and undergraduate history majors Krista Robertson and Nicole Miller. Morsali Sullivan has been studying Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik's 1,500-page manifesto denouncing Norway's policies of multiculturalism and immigration. Miller and Robertson will follow Morsali Sullivan with a joint presentation of their research on the rise of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim discourse in the United States.
• 3-3:45 p.m. — "Where Do We Go From Here?" will be an open discussion on ways to preclude genocide and counter hate.

Media Contact: Mimi Ko Cruz, Public Affairs, 657-278-7586 or mkocruz@fullerton.edu