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Registrations for “Darfur: Tragic Lessons and How to Convey Them” exceed expectations
Nearly 100 Lehigh Valley educators have registered to attend a special Lafayette College workshop for teachers and librarians entitled “Darfur: Tragic Lessons and How to Convey Them” on Monday, March 17, at Kirby Hall of Civil Rights on campus.
Conducted by Lafayette’s Policy Studies program, the workshop will feature a keynote address entitled “Child of War: A Survivor’s Life” by Benjamin Ajak and sessions on “Economic Development: Broader Implications of the Darfur Genocide” and “Confronting Genocide: Never Again?”
David Stifel, assistant professor of economics and business at Lafayette, will lead the session on broader implications of the genocide. Marilyn Kann, reference librarian, and Nicole Crain, visiting professor of economics and business, took the lead in planning the program and they will be involved throughout the workshop
Mollie Hackett, professional development director for the Choices Program in Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies, will lead the “Confronting Genocide” session. Hackett will guide participants through a special curriculum on Darfur written by scholars at the Watson Institute and explain how it can be adapted to each teacher’s classroom needs.
Attendance at the workshop qualifies educators for Act 48 Continuing Professional Education credit. The curriculum and teaching resources are most appropriate for high school courses.
Ajak is co-author of the 2005 book They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys From Sudan. He spent almost 15 years fleeing attackers, fighting off starvation, and living in refugee camps until he was brought to America in 2001.
The winners of a student essay contest will be announced. More than 90 Lehigh Valley students entered essays on the theme “Why Should We Care About Darfur?” The student with the winning essay will receive $250, and his or her school will receive $150. The runner-up will receive $150, and his or her school will receive $100.
Lafayette’s Policy Studies program is taking the lead in implementing a resolution by the College’s Board of Trustees that that the College develop an educational program to heighten awareness of the human-rights crisis in Sudan. Policy Studies also brought Nicholas Kristof, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columns have advanced knowledge of Darfur, to campus for a public lecture Nov. 8 and led the production of a powerful video, “The World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis,” in which the Lafayette community condemns the genocide in Darfur.
The workshop schedule follows:
9:00 a.m. — Registration, Kirby Hall of Civil Rights
9:15 a.m. — Welcome by Mark Crain, Simon Professor of Political Economy and chair of Policy Studies
9:30 a.m. — Keynote address, Benjamin Ajak, “Child of War: A Survivor’s Life”
10:45 a.m. — Introduction by Marilyn Kann of break-out session leaders and curriculum on Darfur
11:10 a.m. — Break-out sessions: “Economic Development: Broader Implications of the Darfur Genocide” and “Confronting Genocide: Never Again?”
12:10 p.m. — Lunch and book signing
1:15 a.m. — Break-out sessions repeated
2:10 p.m. — Summary of curriculum, Mollie Hackett
2:20 p.m. — Announcement of essay contest winners and closing remarks by Nicole Crain