Vido recordings of each of the keynote addresses and each of the following panel sessions are accessible by clicking on the Video links after each session in the program.
Due to unavoidable and late developing assignments arising from Gen. Dallaire's responsibilities as a Canadian Senator, he was not able to keynote the conference on 1 November. However, Major Brent Beardsley, Gen. Dallaire's co-author and aide before and during the Rwanda genocide of 1994, joined with criminal investigator Detective Sergeant Debbie Bodkin of the UN Commisson of Inquiry on Darfur, to keynote the conference.
On 1 November 2005, MIGS, the Concordia Student Union, the Office of the President of Concordia University, the Faculty of Arts & Science, and other Concordia University sponsors hosted a one day conference on the Darfur situation for students from Concordia and other universities, as well as the interested public. Major Brent Beardsley, Gen. Dallaire's staff officer in Rwanda and co-author with Gen. Dallaire of Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, and Sgt. Debbie Bodkin, detective and criminal investigator, United Nations Commission of Inquiry, Darfur, gave the keynote speeches. Expert panels were presented on the following topics: the background to the Darfur crisis; the role of the Canadian media in alerting Canadians to ongoing crimes against humanity in Darfur; the options available to resolve the Darfur crisis; and Canadian student opportunities for urging solutions to the problems in Sudan. Analysts from the Dept. of National Defence, university researchers, editors, and student leaders made panel presentations. The conference was free and took place at Concordia University’s downtown Montreal Sir George Williams campus. The public was invited.
Date: Tuesday, 1 November 2005
Time: 9h00 to 18h30
Place: Room H-110, the Hall Building, Concordia University,
1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W.
PROGRAM
31 October (Monday), 21h00
Room H-110, Hall Building, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W.
Film showing and discussion period,
"Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire,"
winner of many awards including the 2005 Sundance Festival World Cinema Documentary Audience Award. Introduction by Prof. Frank Chalk, Concordia History Dept. and MIGS; Major Brent Beardsley, RMC (Kingston), Gen. Dallaire's aide in Kigali ; Col. Denis Thompson, Director of Peacekeeping Policy, National Defence Headquarters, Ottawa; and Patrick Reed, Associate Producer and Researcher for the film, "Shake Hands with the Devil"
1 November (Tuesday), 9h00 to 18h30
Room H-110, Hall Building, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W.
9h00: Welcome and introduction to "Canada and the Darfur Crisis" Dean David Graham and Prof. Frank Chalk
9h30: Keynote addresses by Major Brent Beardsley, on "The Rwanda Genocide: Lessons Learned and Not Learned," and Sgt. Debbie Bodkin, "A Criminal Investigator's First-Hand Report on the Crimes underway in Darfur"
(VIDEO 1)
11h00: Coffee break
11h15: Panel 1, Understanding the Darfur Crisis and Sudan (VIDEO 2)
Panel Chairperson: Prof. Andrew Ivaska, History Department, Concordia University
Panelists:
Prof. Nelson Kasfir, Dartmouth College, Dept. of Government;
Prof. Khalid Medani, Political Science and Islamic Studies, McGill University; Visiting Fellow, Stanford University (Center for International Security and Cooperation), 2005-2006;
Colonel Denis Thompson , Director of Peacekeeping Policy, National Defence Headquarters, Ottawa
13h00 Lunch Break
14h00: Panel 2, The Canadian Media and the Darfur Crisis (VIDEO 3)
Panel Chairperson: Prof. Enn Raudsepp, Journalism Department, Concordia University
Panelists:
Andrew Phillips, Editor-in-Chief, The Gazette (Montreal);
Jack Nagler,
Senior Producer
, CBC Radio, "The World at Six"
Sylvain Desjardins, Radio Canada journalist,
Dimanche Magazine, just returned from Darfur
Guy Taillefer, journalist, Le Devoir
15h45 Panel 3, Opportunities for Action on Darfur and Sudan: Canada's Choices (VIDEO 4)
Panel Chairperson: Prof. Leander Schneider, Political Science Department, Concordia Univ.
Panelists:
Prof. Eric Reeves, Smith College; author of Sudan: Suffering a Long Way Off (forthcoming)
Payam Akhavan, Boulton Senior Fellow, McGill Faculty of Law, formerly Office of the Prosecutor for the Intl. Criminal Tribunal Yugoslavia;
Carol McQueen, just returned Political Affairs Officer, United Nations Mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo/ Mission de l’Organization des Nations Unies au Congo (MONUC)
Gerald Caplan, author of Rwanda: The Preventable Genocide for the International Panel of Eminent Personalities to Investigate the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda
17h15 Panel 4, What Canadian Students Can Do on Darfur (VIDEO 5)
Panel Chairperson: Prof. Peter Stoett, Political Science Department, Concordia University
Panelists:
Max Kelly, student, Policy Director for STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur), Canada, University of Toronto;
Dalia Rotstein, student, McGill Faculty of Medicine;
Awel Uwihanganye, student, Founder and President, Global Forum on International Cooperation (GFIC), Concordia University;
Katherine Boushel, student, Vice-President Campaigns, Concordia Student Union;
Tara Tavender, student, Concordia University
18:30 Conference Conclusion and Thanks
For further information contact Prof. Frank Chalk, drfrank@alcor.concordia.ca
or Tara Tavender, canada.and.darfur@gmail.com