• Research
• BRANDEIS HOME

Upcoming Events

All events are free and open to the public, except where noted.

"From University to Pluriversity: The Fair-Trade/Decolonial Education Model" Presentation

Monday, February 25, 2019

Time: 3:30 - 5:00 pm

Location: Shapiro Campus Center Multipurpose Room 

Come listen to Daniel Bryan, executive director of The Pachaysana Institute and resident director of Rehearsing Change: Empowering Locally, Educating Globally. Bryan will be discussing the work of Rehearsing Change, which responds to the need for more participatory dialogue - such as theatre and performance - to engage with education about fair trade and decolonization. 

For those interested in studying abroad with Rehearsing Change, the organization is currently accepting applications for the Fall 2019 semester. Participants will spend the semester in two rural communities in Ecuador, where they will live, learn, and create with the communities. The first application deadline is March 15th, with applications accepted until April 15th. Interested students can talk to Bryan more in-depth about the program on February 25th. 

This event is sponsored by the Minor in Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation (CAST). Co-sponsored by the Minor in Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies.

Questions? Please contact ethics@brandeis.edu.

"From University to Pluriversity: The Fair-Trade/Decolonial Education Model" Workshop

Monday, February 25, 2019

Time: 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Location: Alumni Lounge, Usdan  

Work with Daniel Bryan, executive director of The Pachaysana Institute and resident director of Rehearsing Change: Empowering Locally, Educating Globally, as he uses participatory theatre activities to explore how education can perpetuate colonial structures. Bryan will also be examining how we can move towards the decolonization of our practices. 

For those interested in studying abroad with Rehearsing Change, the organization is currently accepting applications for the Fall 2019 semester. Participants will spend the semester in two rural communities in Ecuador, where they will live, learn, and create with the communities. The first application deadline is March 15th, with applications accepted until April 15th. Interested students can talk to Bryan more in-depth about the program on February 25th. 

This event is sponsored by the Minor in Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation (CAST). Co-sponsored by the Minor in Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies.

Questions? Please contact ethics@brandeis.edu.

Panelist Farah Pandith

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Time: 12:30 - 2:00 pm
Location: Skyline Commons

Violent extremism is a growing global challenge. Estimates are that some 60,000 foreign terrorist fighters from more than 100 countries had made their way to the Islamic State by 2016. Responding to the need for preventive measures, Western and non-Western governments, the United Nations, and international aid agencies, adopted a range of policies and initiatives to counteract extremist and terrorist radicalization among Muslim youth.

The Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) agenda emphasizes community engagement and partnership approaches to countering early signs of extremist radicalization and terrorist recruitment among youths. The United Nations committed to the Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) agenda in 2016, amending the name to focus on the “root causes” of terrorism extremism and recruitment.

Join us for a discussion with three experts – Farah Pandith, Paul Turner, and Saida Abdi – on understanding the relationship between Islamophobia and CVE/PVE policies. Farah Pandith is a world-leading expert and pioneer on countering violent extremism (CVE). She served as a political appointee in the George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama administrations at the National Security Council, US Agency for International Development and US Department of State.

Paul Turner is a conflict prevention, mitigation, and response leader, focusing on countering violent extremism, with more than 20 years of field and policy experience promoting innovative approaches to local, national, and international conflicts.

Saida Abdi, LICSW, MSW, MA is the Associated Director for Community Relations at the Boston Children’s Hospital Refugee Trauma and Resilience Center (BCHRTRC). Her clinical practice focuses on supporting children and families impacted by violence and migration. Her research focuses on factors related to risk and resilience among refugee and immigrant populations and the use of CBPR to promote community engagement and collaboration.

Please note: This event will be filmed. Refreshments will be provided. It is free and open to the public.

This event is supported by a donation from Brandeis alumnus Ammad Bahalim '04, made in memory of his grandmother, Habib-un-Nisa Bahalim. The fund supports student-led public events that aim to combat Islamophobia and explore Islam as a tradition of learning and critical thinking.

 Cosponsored by: The Bahalim Fund, Heller School, International and Global Studies, Politics Department, and the Ethics Center. Questions? Contact ethics@brandeis.edu.

The Trials of Richard Goldstone
A reading, discussion, and reception featuring Richard Goldstone, Ethics Center International Advisory Board member and former chair; and Daniel Terris, Director Emeritus of the Ethics Center; moderated by Board Chair John Shattuck

Monday, March 18, 2019

Time: 5:00 - 6:30 pm
Location: International Lounge, Usdan Student Center

In June 2009, Richard Goldstone was a global hero, honored by the MacArthur Foundation with its prize in international justice. Four months later, he was called a “quisling” and compared to some of the worst traitors in human history. Why? Because this champion of human rights and international law chose to apply his commitments to fairness and truth to his own community. 
 
In The Trials of Richard Goldstone (published in December 2018 by Rutgers University Press), Daniel Terris, Director Emeritus of the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, tells the story of this extraordinary individual and the price he paid for his convictions:

• He describes how Goldstone, working as a judge in apartheid South Africa, helped to undermine this unjust system and later, at Nelson Mandela’s request, led a commission that investigated cases of racial violence and intimidation. Goldstone subsequently served as a justice on the newly established Constitutional Court of South Africa, to which he had been nominated by President Nelson Mandela.
• He considers the international renown Goldstone received as the chief United Nations prosecutor for war crimes committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia – participating in the first tribunals to try political and military leaders on charges of genocide.
• Finally, Terris explores how Goldstone became a controversial figure in the wake of the Jewish jurist’s powerful, but flawed, investigation of Israel for alleged war crimes in Gaza.

Richard Goldstone’s dramatic life story reveals that even in a world rife with prejudice, nationalism, and contempt for human rights, one courageous man can advance the cause of justice.

All are welcome. Refreshments will be served. Book sale and signing to follow the event.

Order the book today!

This event is cosponsored by African and African American Studies, the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, International and Global Studies, Legal Studies, Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, and the Social Justice and Social Policy Program.

RSVP (optional) on Facebook. For more information, please contact ethics@brandeis.edu.

Richman Distinguished Fellow in Public Life - Anna Deavere Smith

"Snapshots: Portraits of a World in Transition"

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Time: 4:00 - 5:30 pm
Location: Sherman Function Hall 

Award-winning playwright, actor and educator Anna Deavere Smith is the 2019 Richman Distinguished Fellow in Public Life recipient. Smith has been credited by the MacArthur Foundation for creating a new form of theater that blends art with social commentary, and she has been seen on the shows "Black-ish" and "The West Wing." As part of her presentation, Deavere Smith will be performing portrayals of people she has interviewed in the past on complex issues. 

The Richman Distinguished Fellowship in Public Life honors individuals active in public life whose contributions have had a significant impact on improving American society, strengthening democratic institutions, advancing social justice or increasing opportunities for all citizens. 

The Richman Fellowship is hosted by the Ethics Center on behalf of the Office of the President.

Questions? Contact ethics@brandeis.edu.

Equatorial Guinea, Literature, and Activisms in the Diaspora 

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Time: 5:00 pm
Location: Mandel Center for the Humanities Reading Room (303) 

Equatoguinean writer Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel embarked on an unexpected hunger strike in February 2011 to protest against the repression of civil liberties in Equatorial Guinea. Exiled now in Barcelona, Spain, Ávila Laurel continues using his literary work to denounce the second dictatorial regime established in Equatorial Guinea since 1979.  

Located in the Gulf of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea is the only African country that has Spanish as its official language. Since independence in 1968, two consecutive dictatorial regimes have impacted the country with a long history of diasporic movements among a people that thrive to escape arbitrary rulers.

The literature of Equatorial Guinea represents the voice of those silenced in a country marked by the opacity of information, lack of freedom of expression, and violation of human rights. Ávila Laurel's latest book, The Gurugu Pledge, is a novel dedicated to the migrations of black Africans to Europe, and offers a vision of an extended phenomena resulting from decolonization and dictatorships.

The talk will be in Spanish and English, introduced and translated by Carolina Nvé Díaz San Francisco (Medical Anthropology and Cross-Cultural Practice, Boston University). 

Refreshments will be served.

This event is sponsored by the Ethics Center and cosponsored by African and African American Studies, the English Department, and Romance Studies. 

Questions? Contact ethics@brandeis.edu