Justice After War

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

How does the legacy of violence, atrocities, genocide and mass human rights violations impact individuals and societies? What is remembered, erased and forgotten? Can seeking accountability, truth and justice impact the future of peace? Are there clear categories of victims, perpetrators, deniers and witnesses? In this course, we will explore history, theories, models and practices that have shaped the widely popular field of transitional justice. This includes learning the various forms of memory activism, tribunals, truth telling, monuments, virtual memory museums and reparations. Using a comparative approach starting with Nuremberg, Latin America, Bosnia, South Africa, Northern Ireland and Rwanda we explore mechanisms aimed at accountability, justice and reconciliation. We use literature on peacebuilding, collective memory as well as findings from trials, oral history, testimonies of survivors, photography as witness, artistic work and written narratives.