CFP: "Constructing Minorities, Defining Communities"

Thu Apr 20 23:44:47 UTC 2000

CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT AND PROGRAM

A one-day conference entitled "Constructing Minorities, Defining
Communities," will be held at Connecticut College on Saturday,
April 29, 2000, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. As a student led initiative,
the conference will feature leading scholars in the fields of history,
sociology, political science, gender studies, and religious studies
along with Connecticut College students, faculty, and representatives
from the local community. Organized by the Department of Russian
and East European Studies and Unity Multicultural Center, it is free
and open to the public.

The primary organizing principle of the conference is a set of problems
and questions: What are the primary categories (race, ethnicity,
gender, religion) for defining a minority in a given context? How is
power formally distributed and unofficially practiced in this context?
What kinds of conflicts result from imbalances of power? How is social
conflict resolved (or not) when there is no clear "majority," such as in
the case of the former Yugoslavia? The aim is to build a conceptual
bridge between social contexts abroad and in the United States,
the American educational system, and the local community.

For more information please contact Andrea Lanoux at
(860) 439-5148, alano at conncoll.edu, or visit our web site:

http://www.conncoll.edu/academics/departments/rees/.

"CONSTRUCTING MINORITIES, DEFINING COMMUNITIES"
A Cross-Cultural Conference at Connecticut College
Saturday, April 29, 2000

10:00  Opening Remarks by Representatives of Connecticut College
  Blaustein 210

10:30-12:00 SESSION I

PANEL A: NATIONAL IDENTITY AND STATE FORMATION IN THE BALKANS
   210 Blaustein
   Chair: Marijan Despalatovic, Russian and East European Studies

Garth Massey, University of Wyoming, Sociology. "Nationalism and
   Liberalism in Balkan State Formation."

Eleni Lampadarios, CC Class of 2000, Russian and East European
   Studies. "Macedonia's Story: Independence and the Early Years."

Mariyan Zumbulev, CC Class of 2001, Economics and International
   Relations. "The Birth of a Country: The Democratization and
   Independence of Slovenia."

PANEL B: COMMUNITY ACTION
  201 Blaustein
  Chair: Leslie Williams, Director of Unity House

Alejandro Melendez, City Manager of the LEAP Program in New London.
   "Conflict in Diversity."

Jane Glover, Librarian, Groton Public Library, Former Mayor of New
   London.  "Minorities and Social Conflict in New London and the
   State of Connecticut."

Tammie Clayton, CC Class of 2001, Member of the New London Board
   of Education, Program Coordinator for LEAP, New London. "Race and
   Education in New London."

PANEL C: IMMIGRATION AND NEW MINORITIES
  203 Blaustein

Vedat Gashi, CC Class of 2001. "Building A Home in America:
   Who Stays and Why?"

Charles Olsher, CC Class of 2001, Government. "Tibetan Refugees
   and Indian Citizenship."

Eva Eckert, Connecticut College, Russian and East European Studies.
   "Gypsies in Czech and Czechs in Texas: Two Cases of Missing
   Assimilation."

12:00-1:00 LUNCH

1:00-2:30 SESSION II

PANEL A: ETHNICITY AND NATIONAL IDENTITY
  201 Blaustein
  Chair: Elinor Despalatovic, Department of History

Stephen Jones, Mount Holyoke, Russian and Eurasian Studies.
   "Minority, Ethnic Group, and Nation in the Caucasus."

Jeffrey Lesser, Connecticut College, History. "Ethnicity and the
   Negotiation of National Identity in Brazil."

June Macklin, Connecticut College, Professor Emerita, Anthropology.
   "Matter out of Place: On Being Gypsy."

PANEL B: RELIGIOUS MINORITIES
  210 Blaustein
  Chair: Eugene V. Gallagher, Religious Studies

Patrice Brodeur, Connecticut College, Religious Studies.
   "Religious Minorities: A Theoretical Approach."

Raphael Abiem, Harvard University Law School, Human Rights
   Program Alumnus. "Suffering in the Abode of Peace: Indigenous
   Aliens under Islam(s)."

Courtney Goto, Consultant to the World Conference on Religion and
   Peace. "In the Midst of Sierra Leone's Civil War: A Muslim Minority's
   Role in Establishing a Multi-Religious Council for Peace and
   Reconciliation."

PANEL C: GENDER AND MINORITIES
  203 Blaustein
  Chair: Jacqueline Alexander, Gender and Women's Studies

Munir Jiwa, Columbia University, Applied Anthropology. "Now You See
   Her, Now You Don't: Presence, Absence, and the Politics of Seeing."

Blanche McCrary Boyd, Connecticut College, English. "Gendering
   Marriage."

Belen Atienza, Connecticut College, Hispanic Studies. "Hispanas, No
   Locas: Language and the Psychiatric Misdiagnosis of Hispanic Women."

2:30-2:45 COFFEE BREAK
Second Floor Stairwell, Blaustein

2:45-4:15 SESSION III

PANEL A: POLITICAL ACTION
  210 Blaustein
  Chair: Paula Arputhasamy, Program Coordinator for Unity House

Tristan Anne Borer, Connecticut College, Government. "The South
   African Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Constitutional Rights
   in Tension with Community Building."

Okey Ndibe, Connecticut College Visiting Faculty, English. "Conflict
   and Violence in Nigeria."

Kezevino Aram, Pediatrician, Director of the Health Mission of Shanti
   Ashram, President of the World Conference on Religion and Peace.
   "First Steps in Health Promotion: Understanding the Social Context."

PANEL B: LANGUAGE AND IDENTITY
  Ernst Common Room
  Chair: Alison Fiser, CC Class of 2000

Michael Hackett, CC Class of 2000, Russian and East European Studies.
   "The Role of Language in the Disintegration of Yugoslavia."

Dominique Arel, Brown University, Watson Institute for International
   Studies. "Language and Census in New Post-Soviet States."

John A. Scott, Connecticut College, Coordinator of Multicultural and
   Diversity Committee. "Race and Language Among White Iowa College
   Sophomores."

4:30 - 5:30 ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION: "Constructing Minorities,
   Defining Communities." Ernst Common Room, Blaustein

Moderator: Elinor Despalatovic, Connecticut College, History

  Participants:
     Jane Glover, Librarian, Former Mayor of New London
     Elizabeth Clifford, Connecticut College, Sociology
     Raphel Abiem, Harvard Law School, Human Rights Program Alumnus
     Dominique Arel, Brown University, Watson Institute

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