Vanier College presents the 26th Annual Symposium on the Holocaust and Genocide - Civic Responsibility: Toward Dialogue

For the 26th consecutive year, Vanier College is holding the Annual Symposium on the Holocaust and Genocide, April 9 – 13, 2018. The theme this year is Civic Responsibility: Toward Dialogue.

Through a week of guest speakers, workshops and Holocaust Survivor testimonials, the Symposium aims to alert young people to discrimination, racism, and genocide in their many manifestations, and to encourage historical understanding in order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. Eyewitness and first-hand accounts are often the best motivators to spark students’ awareness, concern, and action. One of the main strengths of the Symposium is its capacity to impart important lessons about ethical citizenship and moral courage.

Some of the guest speakers this year include the following:

Honorary Chairman, Dr. Charles Asher Small, will be speaking on Genocidal Antisemitism and the Crisis of Modernity (Wednesday, April 11th at 10:30). Dr. Charles Asher Small, who is a Vanier graduate, is the founding Director and President of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP). He convened groundbreaking academic seminar series on contemporary antisemitism at Columbia University, Harvard University, McGill University, amongst others.

Dr. Wahied Wagnat-Hagh, Past President of the International Human Rights League. He will be speaking on the topic of Religious Discrimination in Iran, from Antisemitism over Anti-Bahaism to the Persecution of New Christians. (Monday, April 9th at 2:30).

Dr. Barbara Perry, a Professor in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. She will be speaking on Right-wing Extremism in Canada. (Thursday, April 12th at 2:30).

Professor Frédéric Mégret, McGill Law Professor at Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism. His talk will highlight a number of legal and policy issues that are relevant to understanding how genocides might be stopped in their tracks. (Tuesday, April 10th at 10:30).

Cheryl MacDonald will speak on Friday, April 13th at 10:00 on the topic Working Together Toward Healing: One Indigenous Woman's View of Multi-Generational Trauma in Indigenous Communities. This is in conjunction with the Vanier College Indigenous Circle.

See the full program for details and all the other speakers.