Commonwealth Honors College Events Hall - 160 East

Refreshments will be served

What kind of preparation do teachers need to be able to foster student's reflective engagement in the complex and controversial social and civic issues of our times, and how would we know if such preparation were successful?  In this seminar we will examine the role of education in promoting a civil society, focusing on the approach of Facing History and Ourselves, an international educational organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and antisemitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry.  Facing History integrates the study of history and ethics in ways that help teachers to promote young people’s informed and responsible civic engagement. We will discuss the evidence base for the program and the need for more research that documents the complex links between teacher development and student learning. There will be time for discussion regarding the program, relevant research, and implications for policy.

Dennis J. Barr, Ed.D., is a developmental psychologist interested in theory, research and practices related to fostering the social, moral, and civic development and engagement of youth.  He is the Director of Evaluation at Facing History and Ourselves, an international educational and professional development organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and antisemitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry. Dr. Barr is also an Adjunct Lecturer on Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where he teaches a course on civic education using Facing History as a case study.  Dr. Barr has conducted numerous studies, and was most recently the principal investigator of a nationwide randomized controlled trial evaluating Facing History. The research team also developed several innovative measures of teacher and student growth for the study, which was published in Teachers College Record in March 2014.

Room 423 Tobin Hall

Refreshments will be served

Most modern conflicts have multiple roots, usually involving some combination of ethnic, national, or religious antagonisms along with a history of grievances and provocations.  But underlying all this, more often than not, is competition for vital resources - land, water, food, energy, minerals, etc. - coupled with inequities in their allocation (or in the allocation of the revenues, or "rents," produced by their exploitation).  These issues must be addressed in any successful efforts at international peacemaking.

Michael Klare is the Five College Professor of Peace and World Security Studies, a joint appointment at Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.  His also serves as Director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies.

Professor Klare has written widely on world security affairs, resource geopolitics, and energy issues.  His most recent books include Resource Wars (2001), Blood and Oil (2005), Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet (2008), and The Race for What’s Left (2012).  Klare is the defense correspondent of The Nation magazine and written for many other publications, including Current History, Foreign Affairs, Newsweek, and Scientific American.

In addition to his academic and writing pursuits, Dr. Klare has worked with many non-governmental organizations on issues of peace, disarmament, human rights, and the environment.  He currently serves on the board of directors of the Arms Control Association.

Room 423 Tobin Hall

Refreshments will be served

Sramana Majumdar is a Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Psychology, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India. She is currently working as a Fulbright Visiting Research Fellow at the Hiatt School of Psychology, Clark University, Worcester, MA.  Since obtaining a Masters in Criminology, she has been interested in studying various aspects of violence, attitude towards violence, emotional and cognitive antecedents and repercussions of violence, violence and youth and the like.  As part of her doctoral project she is studying the impact of exposure to violence and mind set on the emotional and behavioural aspects of the youth in Kashmir. She has also been interested in looking at gendered aspects of the exposure to violence, intergroup reconciliation and the role of identity among the youth in Kashmir.

The Valley of Kashmir has been a disputed territory for more than two decades. It is today a site of intractable conflict and one of the most militarized areas in the world. The ‘Kashmiri’ narrative has gone through many twists and turns, from secular self determination to a radical and highly polarized anti-state character, building upon a collective memory of struggle and suffering. The ethno-political-religious conflict has affected the lives of almost every civilian within the Valley and in the larger Kashmiri Diaspora. This presentation summarizes her experiences and observations while working with the youth in Kashmir Valley. She hopes to facilitate a discussion around the discourse of self determination, identity assertion and resistance to occupation that has been driving the movement in Kashmir and the consequent violence that has dominated civil life from the latter half of the 1980s.

Room 423 Tobin Hall

Refreshments will be served

Congressman McGovern will discuss human rights crises and situations around the globe, and the politics of responding to them in an effective manner.

Since his election in 1996, Congressman Jim McGovern has been widely recognized as a tenacious advocate for his district, a tireless crusader for change, and an unrivaled supporter for social justice and fundamental human rights.

Currently serving his ninth term in Congress, McGovern serves as the second ranking Democrat on the powerful House Rules Committee, which sets the terms for debate and amendments on most legislation; and a member of the House Agriculture Committee. McGovern is also co-chair of both the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and the House Hunger Caucus.

McGovern voted against the initial authorization of force in Iraq in 2002, and has been among the most prominent Congressional voices on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. McGovern introduced a bipartisan, bicameral bill calling for a flexible timetable for withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan as a matter of national security and fiscal responsibility.

McGovern has also taken a leadership role in the fight against hunger at home and abroad, successfully expanding the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, which helps alleviate child hunger and poverty by providing nutritious meals to children in schools in the world’s poorest countries.

Before his election to Congress,  McGovern spent 14 years working as a senior aide for the late U.S. Representative John Joseph Moakley (D-South Boston), former dean of the Massachusetts delegation and Chairman of the House Rules Committee. In 1989, McGovern was the lead investigator on the Moakley Commission Congressional Investigation into the murders of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter in 1989. The investigation ultimately led to a seminal change in U.S. foreign policy towards El Salvador when determined that the Salvadoran military was implicated in the murders. That landmark determination led to future military aid from the U.S. being conditioned on an improved human rights record.

McGovern earned his Bachelor of Arts (‘81) and Masters of Public Administration (‘84) degrees from The American University, working his way through college by serving as an aide in the office of U.S. Senator George McGovern (D-SD). He went on to manage Senator McGovern’s 1984 Presidential campaign in Massachusetts, and delivered his nomination speech during the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco.

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