Title: “The Drowned, the Saved, and the Forgotten: Genocide Survivors and the Foundations of Modern Humanitarianism”
Speaker: Dr. Keith Watenpaugh, Professor and Director, Human Rights Studies Program, Co-Director University of California Human Rights Collaboration, Department of Religious Studies, University of California at Davis
The talk will take place:
- Wednesday, March 22, 2017
- 3:00pm to 5:00pm
- Health Sciences Building/McMaster Medical Centre (HSC) 1A6
Abstract: All humanitarian emergencies are not created equal, or at least not constructed in the humanitarian imagination equally. Where they happen, who is affected, the judged “worthiness” of victims and the quality of need are among the several conditions that transform how a problem of humanity becomes a problem for humanity, like genocide. Examining the international humanitarian response to the genocide of the Ottoman Armenians (1915-1922), he argues that modern humanitarianism and genocide have a complex and intertwined history that has particular relevance to concepts like humanitarian neutrality, humanitarian governance and the role of justice in relief and what would be called now, rights-based development.
Biography: Professor Keith David Watenpaugh studies the history, theory and practice of human rights and humanitarianism and directs the UC Davis Human Rights Studies Program. He is author of Bread From Stones: The Middle East and the Making of Modern Humanitarianism (California, 2015) and Being Modern in the Middle East (Princeton, 2006). His work has been translated into French, German, Armenian, Arabic, Turkish and Persian.
Title: “Refugees, Human Rights, and the Syrian War”
Speaker: Dr. Keith Watenpaugh, Professor and Director, Human Rights Studies Program, Co-Director University of California Human Rights Collaboration, Department of Religious Studies, University of California at Davis
The talk will take place:
- Wednesday, March 22, 2017
- 7:30pm to 9:00pm
- Health Sciences Building/McMaster Medical Centre (HSC) 1A1
Abstract: With several years of fieldwork in Syria and the Middle East, Dr. Watenpaugh will trace a history of the conflict in Syria and an understanding of the situation of Syrian refugees. He has worked with Syrian refugees in camps in Turkey and will provide some insights for health professionals working with these populations. He will explore the legal dilemmas of global humanitarianism and will address the recent ban on Muslims and refugees in the United States.
These two talks are co-sponsored by the following:
Department of History , Orphan Sponsorship Program, McMaster Muslim Student Association, Department of Health, Aging, Society, Humanitarian Healthcare Network, Department of Religious Studies
The History of Medicine and Medical Humanities Speaker Series is made possible by an endowment from Associated Medical Services (AMS).
For more information; please contact the Hannah Chair Dr. Ellen Amster at: amstere@mcmaster.ca.
Humanitarian Health Ethics 