JUHAN workshop: Haiti: Traversing the Path to Democracy

Monday, May 24, 2010
9:00 AM - 2:30 PM
Alumni House

WORKSHOP PRESENTER: Professor Irwin Stotzky, Professor of Law at the University of Miami School of Law and the Director of the University of Miami Center for the Study of Human Rights Professor Stotzky has served as an attorney and an advisor to former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and as an adviser to incumbent President Renè Preval’s administration. He has also served as the Chairman of an international Presidential Commission to help Haiti confront its drug problems. He has represented Haitian refugees on constitutional and human rights issues. WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION & FORMAT: The earthquake that struck Haiti on January 17, 2010 was a tragedy of historic significance. But, the real problems facing the Haitian people and the international community have been caused not by nature but by human beings. Professor Stotzky will render his analysis of Haiti’s transition from authoritarianism to democracy, and the problems and possibilities of making Haiti into a functioning democracy. He will explore the theoretical and practical relationship between the economic, social, political and legal dimensions of such a transition within the context of justificatory theories of democracy. The earthquake that struck Haiti has also spurred various campus initiatives on Haiti coming from the JUHAN Student Leadership Team and the Fairfield Task Force for Haiti, among others. The afternoon part of the workshop aims to engage the participants in small group discussions that will examine the connection of Haiti to other larger issues, e.g., the ways by which racial/ethnic and social factors apply in multiple contexts, political implications of humanitarian responses to disasters, roles of Global Citizens, etc. There will also be an opportunity for interested participants to brainstorm on how to build on the existing campus initiatives on Haiti. For these exercises, the participants could benefit from Prof. Stotzky’s insights gained from his continuing involvement in Haiti. This workshop is the third and last installment of a series of three workshops for this academic year organized in pursuit of the objectives of the Global Citizenship Initiative, and JUHAN. The first was on “The Practices of Global Citizenship” by Dr. Hans Schattle, Associate Professor of Political Science at Roger Williams University. The second was entitled “Teaching Social Analysis in the Service of Justice: (Re)Building a Lost City - A Blueprint for Global Justice Education in Post-Katrina New Orleans,” by Dr. Gary Perry, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Seattle University. The College of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Institute, the Center for Faith and Public Life’s JUHAN Program, the Global Citizenship Initiative, the Earl and Hildagunda A. Brinkman Private Charitable Foundation, and the Center for Academic Excellence are the sponsors for this workshop. Faculty participants will receive a $100 stipend. CONTACT INFORMATION: Please contact Ana Siscar (asiscar@fairfield.edu) with questions.