On April 25, 2013 from 12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. and repeated at 1:40 p.m. – 2:55 p.m., Sussex County Community College will host a special program in the PAC to raise genocide awareness among students and the public. The program will also be repeated at 7:00 p.m. at Sparta United Methodist Church.  The panel  of guest speakers will include genocide scholars (Makiko Oku, Ph.D., and Jeff Benvenuto, Ph.D. candidate), and a genocide survivor from Rwanda (Eugenie Mukeshimana), who are affiliated with the Center for the Study of Genocide, Conflict Resolution, and Human Rights (CGHR) at Rutgers University.  While the presenters will touch upon the Holocaust, the main focus will be  genocide in the context of history, past, present, and future.  The panelists will discuss the persistence of genocide in the post-Holocaust world, as seen, for example, in Cambodia, Bosnia, and Rwanda, up to the present-day along with the threat of future genocides as expanding populations compete for limited resources.  The underlying theme of the program is why genocides occur and how can they be prevented in the future.  Each of the presenters will speak for about fifteen minutes on their particular area of expertise, and a question and answer period will follow.

 
The program is free to college and high school students.  For non-students a donation of up to $10 is suggested but not required.  The events are being co-sponsored by Sussex County Community College, Newton  Presbytery Peacemaking Committee, Amnesty International chapter 1004, Sparta United Methodist Church, and Sparta Ecumenical Council and Friends, as well as several other organizations and individuals.  All proceeds will go to support Rwandan and Bosnian survivor networks sponsored by the speakers.  
 
 
More information can be found on the web at sussex.edu; spartaumc.org; amnestyusa.org/events/genocide-
panel-discussion-group; http://www.ncas.rutgers.edu/cghr (click “programs,” then “genocide”).  For questions, e-mail tjohnson@sussex.edu or group1004@aiusa.org, or call 973-726-3245 or 973-876-1072.  Group reservations for the afternoon presentations are recommended; e-mail requests to cschmidt@sussex.edu, or call 973-729-2535 and leave a message, including return phone number.  No reservations are guaranteed until confirmed.