Dr. Keith David Watenpaugh, of the University of California at Davis, will give a presentation on “The Drowned, the Saved and the Forgotten: Genocide and the Foundations of Modern Humanitarianism” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 4, in the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium, Room 191, on the Fresno State campus.
The lecture is part of the Armenian Studies Program Spring 2017 Lecture Series and is supported by the Leon S. Peters Foundation. The lecture is co-sponsored by the Department of History, the Islamic Studies Speaker Series, and the College of Social Sciences.
Genocide is unparalleled in its horror. It is the ultimate crime against humanity, but it is also a problem of humanity that evokes a problem for humanity. In this talk, drawn from his award-winning book, “Bread from Stones: The Middle East and the Making of Modern Humanitarianism” (2015) Watenpaugh examines the particular questions that arise when the problem of humanity motivating a problem for humanity is the crime of genocide.
Examining international humanitarian responses to the genocide of the Ottoman Armenians (1915-1922), he argues that modern humanitarianism and genocide have a complex and intertwined history that has shaped the critical modern concepts of humanitarian neutrality, humanitarian governance and the role of justice in relief, and human rights-based development.
Watenpaugh studies the history, theory, and practice of human rights and humanitarianism and directs the Human Rights Studies program at UC Davis. ADr. Watenpaugh is the recipient of fellowships from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies and the Social Science Research Council, and he is immediate past-president of the Syrian Studies Foundation. He also directs a global project supported by the Carnegie Corporation and the Open Society Foundations to address the higher education needs of Syrian refugee university students.
The lecture is free and open to the public. Free parking is available, using parking code 273703 (use the code in kiosks in the parking area to receive the permit) at Fresno State Lots P5 and P6, near the University Business Center, Fresno State.
For more information about the lecture please contact the Armenian Studies Program at 278-2669, or visit our website at www.fresnostate.edu/armenianstudies.
The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State 