AHDA News and Current Events
Call for Applications: Fellowship for Historical Dialogue and Accountability extended deadline: April 18th!
Columbia University invites practitioners of Historical Dialogue and Accountability/Dealing with the Past from Africa, Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the Middle East and South and Southeast Asia to apply for the Fellowship for Historical Dialogue and Accountability. Deadline: April 18th, 2012
Applications are being accepted for the 2012 Fellowship for Advocates of Historical Dialogue and Accountability at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights (ISHR). The program is part of the Alliance of Historical Dialogue and Accountability.
Historical dialogue and accountabilityis a growing field of advocacy and scholarship that encompasses the efforts in conflict, post-conflict, and post-dictatorial societies to deal with their pasts. In contesting nationalist myths and identities, in examining official historical narratives, and opening to competing narratives about past violence, historical dialogue promotes inclusivity of minorities that suffered in the past as well as with (former) enemies. Advocates of historical dialogue work to:
- collect and provide facts about the history of particular conflicts;
- provide analysis of past violence grounded in empirical research;
- acknowledge the victims of past violence and human rights abuses;
- challenge and deconstruct national or ethnic memories of heroism and/or victimhood;
- foster shared work between interlocutors of two or more sides of a conflict;
- identify and monitor how history is misused to divide society and perpetuate conflict;
- and enhance public discussion about the past.
The Program
In the fall semester of 2012 (late August – December) practitioners of dealing with the violent pasts from conflict, post-conflict and post-dictatorial societies will have the opportunity to engage in training, networking, project work, and academic study at Columbia University in New York City. The comprehensive program provides Fellows with the opportunity to hone practical skills in fundraising, advocacy and leadership, develop a deeper understanding of dealing with the past, and foster mutually beneficial relationships with their peers and with international and non-profit organizations in New York City. During the Fellowship participants are expected to design a Fellowship project that addresses a history of gross human rights violations in their society, country and/or region. The Fellowship is fully funded. Travel, visa and accommodation costs are fully covered. During the program Fellows will receive health insurance as well as a stipend to cover living expenses in New York City.
The Applicant
Applicants must be experienced in historical dialogue and accountability. Preference will be given to candidates who are either members of an organization that focuses on dealing with the past in the applicant’s society and/or region or who demonstrate the support of a well-established organization to implement the Fellows project after the completion of the program
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Applying candidates must be proficient in spoken English. They must have the support of an organization from and work in the following parts of the world that face ongoing or the legacy of sectarian conflicts: – Africa, Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Middle East, South and Southeast Asia.
Detailed Fellowship Guidelines and the application form are available here: http://hrcolumbia.org/fhda/
The deadline for receipt of applications is 16 April 2012 at 11 pm Eastern Central Time.
Update: Participants from Southeastern Europe are welcome to apply!
UPDATE: The Fellowship Deadline has been extended. Last day to apply is April 18th at 11:58pm Central Eastern Time
Past Events
AHDA affiliates meet in Germany
Affiliates of AHDA will participate in the conference The Role of Adult Education in Working with the Past and Reconciliation Processes. The conference will take place in Bonn (Germany) in mid-December 2011. In partnership with dvv international, Akademie fuer Konflikttransformation and European Association for the Education of Adults, AHDA
- to share/exchange lessons learnt and to create space for elaborating them in working practices for practitioners from different spheres;
- to empower individuals and personalities working in the history field through offering them tools and approaches to support them while interacting with their target group;
- to reach a meta-level of understanding the processing of the past through bringing experts from various disciplines from history, anthropology and ethnography and even medicine and psychology;
- to search jointly the answers of questions: What to remember? What to forget? Whom to forget? Why is this so much important? And what is my role in it?
- To initiate new project ideas, new operations and partnerships.
Participants: Association for Historical Dialogue and Research, Cyprus, Anadolu Kültür Turkey, Center for History, Democracy, and Reconciliation, Serbia, Documenta: Center for Dealing with the Past, Croatia, Institute for Applied History, Frankfurt, Germany, Listening between the Lines USA, UMAM Research and Documentation: Lebanese Association for Cultural and Artistic Exchange, Lebanon, Seyfo Center, USA, Zochrot, Israel
How do we say Nakba in Shul?
The Israeli organization Zochrot recently published a study guide called How do we say Nakba in Hebrew? It is a curriculum designed for Jewish Israelis, supporting Zochrot's mission to increase awareness of the Nakba and its implications today. Since the study guide's publication in Israel, American-Jewish communities, rabbis, and activists have been eager for an English translation of Zochrot's materials that they can use in the U.S. In response, two years ago, a small group of volunteers based in NYC began adapting the Israeli curriculum for a U.S. Jewish audience. The hope is that this information will shift and deepen conversations in the U.S., particularly within the Jewish community, about the history, causes, and possibilities for justice in Palestine/Israel.
AHDA hosted the Zochrot-U.S. Working Group for a 4-session pilot series with an invited group of participants. After the workshop series the working group will finalized and distributed the curriculum to a wider audience.
