Conferences

International Conference on Genocide
Dhaka, Bangladesh
July 30-31, 2009

The Liberation War Museum has organized the Second International Conference on Genocide, Truth and Justice, which will be held at the CIRDAP Auditorium, Dhaka, Bangladesh on July 30 and 31, 2009. This conference has been organized at a time when Bangladesh is actively pursuing the trial of the perpetrators of murder, rape and arson during the nine months of 1971 which led to the emergence of Bangladesh as a sovereign nation.
The Conference is expected to bring to focus the multifarious legal, interpretational and implementation issues which are likely to occur while the trials are being held. Representatives from Yugoslavia, South Africa, Rwanda, Cambodia and other nations will share their experience and views on genocide and a special program will involve the local population including witnesses, victims of genocide and members of young generation.
The Conference will be available in streaming video via the Liberation War Museum website:www.liberationwarmuseum.org/genocide

2009 Sites of Conscience Summit
Memphis, USA
June 26-30, 2009

From June 26-30, Sites of Conscience as far apart and varied as Memoria Abierta (Argentina), Liberation War Museum (Bangladesh), Constitution Hill (South Africa), and the Gulag Museum at Perm-36 (Russia), gathered for the first time at a US Site of Conscience – the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN. Together with international leaders in human rights and heritage, these historic sites shared strategies of how museums in diverse contexts can foster ongoing civic participation in key civil rights and civil liberties issues in a new political era.
The National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel – site of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. — traces the African American civil rights movement from the earliest days of slavery, examines the effect of racism in American society, and considers issues of poverty and economic and social injustice. Through its collections, exhibitions, and educational programs, the Museum inspires participation in civil and human rights efforts – in Memphis, across the United States and the world.
Participants in the Summit analyzed the National Civil Rights Museum’s programs; shared their own latest work; and devised diverse principles and practices for using Sites of Conscience to inspire active participation on today’s important civil rights issues.

International Summit of Sites of Conscience
Monte Sole Peace School, Italy
June 16-20, 2008
From June 16-20, 2008, Sites of Conscience leaders from around the world gathered at the Monte Sole Peace School Foundation outside of Bologna, Italy for the annual International Sites of Conscience Summit to workshop their latest models of citizen engagement programs and develop a common toolkit of diverse program designs and principles. The Peace School is located at the site of a 1944 massacre of close to 800 village residents by Nazi SS troops with the help of Italian fascist elements. Today the School uses the site as the basis for programs that work with Italian youth to address rising xenophobia and racist violence, as well as with youth from conflict regions around the world, to develop non-violent means of addressing conflict.

Participants evaluated the Peace School’s methodologies and program designs; workshopped their own latest designs for dialogue programs that engage the public in current human rights struggles; and, based on these case studies, began developing a toolkit of diverse principles and practices for using Sites of Conscience to inspire active dialogue and action on contemporary issues. A full report of the Summit will soon be available.

Global Conference on Memorialization and Democracy: State Policy and Civic Action
Corporacíon Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi, Santiago, Chile
June 20-22, 2007
From June 20-22, 2007, the Coalition, its Chilean member Corporación Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi, in collaboration with the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and the Latin American Faculty of Social Science-Chile (FLACSO-Chile), hosted a major international conference to develop a policy framework for how memorialization can assist in building lasting cultures of human rights.

The conference brought together an unprecedented combination of policy-makers and practitioners in human rights, democracy-building, historic preservation, education, tourism, urban planning, and other fields to develop recommendations for national and international frameworks to support Sites of Conscience. These leading policy makers and practitioners in diverse fields and regions identified international principles and policies for developing Sites of Conscience as new spaces for citizen engagement and as integral parts of any democratic society. This required policies that address the following issues:

The recommendations from the conference have been developed into the publication Memorialization and Democracy: State Policy and Civic Action.
You can also read: Program, Participants List

2006 Sites of Conscience Workshop
Gulag Museum at Perm-36, Perm, Russia
June 25 – July 3, 2006
Historic Sites of Conscience from Russia and around the world gathered in Perm, home of the Gulag Museum at Perm-36, to develop new ways to foster civic engagement in the most pressing human rights issues facing their diverse societies. The 2006 Summit came at a crucial time for the Gulag Museum and the development of a new museum practice in Russia, where the memory of totalitarianism is rapidly disappearing and democratic freedoms are under threat.

Putting the Human Back in Human Rights Forum
Open Society Institute, New York, NY, US
April 11, 2006
The Coalition, Open Society Institute (OSI), and Ford Foundation hosted a forum to examine how Sites of Conscience are being used to inspire and support broad citizen engagement in human rights issues. Moderated by OSI President Aryeh Neier, panelists included human rights leaders Ken Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch; Juan Mendez, Executive Director of the International Center for Transitional Justice, and Patricia Tappatá de Valdez, Director of Memoria Abierta.
http://www.soros.org/resources/events/human_20060411

Who Owns the Past? Heritage Rights and Responsibilities in a Multicultural World
Ename Center for Public Archaeology and Heritage Preservation, Ghent, Belgium
March 22 – 25, 2006
As part of their continuing program of public discussion and reflection on the role of heritage in modern society, the Department of Culture of the Province of East-Flanders and the Ename Center for Public Archaeology organized a three-day event to examine questions relating to public rights and responsibilities in the preservation and interpretation of cultural heritage, with a view toward highlighting new approaches, methodologies, and technologies to aid in this task. The Coalition Secretariat, and Members from Monte Sole Peace School and The Workhouse demonstrated how museums and historic sites can open new conversations about contemporary issues and inspire communities worldwide to become actively involved on issues of democracy building and social justice, as well as explore why historical sites and perspectives are important for policy makers and government leaders today.
http://enamecenter.org/content/category/13/44/71/lang,en/

Using the Past to Shape the Future: Addressing Civic Issues at Historic Sites, Museums, and Cultural Centers
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL, US
November 18 – 19, 2005
The Coalition partnered with the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum to design a national conference exploring how museums, historic sites, and historical societies can serve as new town halls, centers for dialogue on pressing social issues. The conference featured presentations from historic sites around the world on successful strategies for promoting dialogue on difficult topics, and included interactive workshops modelling a variety of dialogue techniques, and brainstorming sessions among participants about how historic sites can collaborate with their communities and inspire civic engagement among youth.
http://www.uic.edu/jaddams/hull/2004conference/

2005 Sites of Conscience Workshop
District Six Museum, Cape Town, South Africa
May 25 – June 3, 2005
The International Coalition of Sites of Conscience took critical new steps to expand its reach; deepen its practice; and develop a new structure for growth.

Hands on District Six: Landscapes of Postcolonial Memorialization
District Six Museum, Cape Town, South Africa
May 25 – 28, 2005
“Hands on District Six” brought together more than 200 international leaders and local residents to explore the role of Sites of Conscience in the new South Africa. Bringing international perspectives to bear on local issues, District Six was used as a case study to raise global questions. The conference reflected on District Six Museum’s growth as an institution and its role in the return of ex-residents to the barren landscape of the District Six neighborhood. Using this example, the conference also addressed how emerging practices of memorialization and heritage and engagements with living memory can help to build a humane and democratic public culture in South Africa. During the conference, a call to action was made to establish a network of forced removal sites in South Africa and to start a larger initiative on the African continent.
http://www.districtsix.co.za/backgroundinfo.htm

Reflections of Community
Association of Midwest Museums and the Michigan Museums Association, Grand Rapids, MI, US
October 20 – 22, 2004
The Coalition delivered the keynote address to more than 500 museum professionals from the Great Lakes Region of the United States at the Joint Annual Conference of the Association of Midwest Museums and the Michigan Museums Association, and conducted a workshop on making museums centers for civic dialogue.

New Tactics in Human Rights International Symposium
New Tactics in Human Rights, Ankara, Turkey
September 29 – October 4, 2004
Human rights workers from around the world gathered in Ankara to share innovative tactics to promote human rights and democracy. Coalition Members from Bangladesh, South Africa, and the United States trained leaders from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kenya, the Philippines, Turkey and other regions on how they could use sites of memory to develop lasting cultures of human rights.
www.newtactics.org/WorldSymposium/

2004 Sites of Conscience Workshop
Terezín Memorial, Terezín, Czech Republic
July 13 – 18, 2004
Members of the Coalition came together at Terezín Memorial, Czech Republic, to address challenges their museums face in fostering public dialogue on human rights issues. Members toured the former Jewish ghetto of Terezín, and participated in education programs on the Holocaust and related issues developed by the Terezín Memorial Education Department. Members also discussed how the history of the Holocaust could be used to raise contemporary issues while suggesting ideas and strategies for inspiring visitors of all ages to think critically about their society and their role in shaping it.

Great Places, Great Debates: Opening Historic Sites to Civic Engagement
National Park Service, New York, NY, US
April 1 – 2, 2004
“Great Places, Great Debates”, a National Park Service Conference co-hosted by the Lower East Side Tenement Museum and the Regional Plan Association in New York City, was designed to nurture a growing movement establishing historic places as our new town halls, active centers for citizen participation.
http://www.nps.gov/nero/greatplaces/

Activating the Past: An International Symposium on Sites of Conscience
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, US
March 19, 2004
“Activating the Past” offered a forum for exploring how historic sites and museums can be used to address critical and controversial issues in our communities and what role memory and museums can play in the democracy-building. Sessions included facilitated workshops on questions Sites of Conscience raise for the museum field, as well as particular strategies for developing Sites of Conscience practices in various local contexts.
http://www.umich.edu/~ummsp/events/hsc_report.htm