Event date: 15-17 June 2015
Location: Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Blandijnberg 2

Here are some practical announcements for participants in the PhD symposium on “Human Rights and the Mobilization of Testimony.” Anyone else who is interested in attending the keynote lectures by Professor Rosanne Kennedy and Professor Lyndsey Stonebridge is more than welcome to do so.

Welcome Brochure and Programme

You can download the welcome brochure for the symposium here. The programme for the symposium can be downloaded separately here.

Registration and lunch on the first day will take place in the large meeting room on the third floor of the Blandijn building (English Studies, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Blandijnberg 2).

Readings

The two keynote speakers have kindly agreed to lead two separate discussion groups on Monday (5 p.m.) and Wednesday (11 a.m.). Please try to find the time to read/watch the given excerpts so as to facilitate what will undoubtedly be a fascinating discussion on the day itself.

For the first reading/discussion session, Professor Kennedy asks participants to read two chapters from Sensible Politics: The Visual Culture of Nongovernmental Activism, ed. Meg McLagan and Yates McKee (2012). You can download the PDFs here and here.

For the second reading/discussion session, Professor Stonebridge requests that participants take a look at Samuel Beckett’s short story “The End” (available here). In addition to this, she also asks that participants prepare Richard Rorty’s essay on “Human Rights, Rationality and Sentimentality” (text available for download here).

Symposium Dinner

You can download the menu for the symposium dinner here. Anyone wishing to attend the dinner should email Sean Bex (sean.bex@ugent.be) by Friday 12 June, indicating which main course they would prefer. This fixed menu (€40) includes drinks.

Visit Kazerne Dossin

On the second day of the symposium, participants are warmly invited to a guided tour of Kazerne Dossin in the picturesque and historic town of Mechelen, with its famous medieval cathedral, belfry and city hall. This newly created museum, erected on the site of an 18th-century barracks, takes its history as a detention and deportation camp during World War II as a starting point to explore the concept of mass violence throughout human history. What makes this visit particularly relevant to the symposium’s topic is the museum’s exploration of this history of violence as a history of human rights violations. Participants wishing to attend will be asked to pay €30 (includes train fare, museum entrance, and guide).