Difficult Dialogues

BRIDGING THE IMPOSSIBLE?

Confronting Barriers to Dialogue between Germans/Jews/Palestinians

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1st @ 7:30pm
Dana Commons, second floor
Clark University

The trauma of the Holocaust and the ever-present Palestinian-Israeli conflict make dialogue between Jews and Germans and between Jews and Palestinians extremely difficult, if not impossible. Is it yet possible to bridge "the impossible"? Julia Chaitin, Senior Lecturer, Sapir Academic College, Hof Ashkelon, Israel, will look at the barriers that often confound dialogue--such as opposing narratives of the past and present in the Jewish-Palestinian case, and the boundaries of "perpetrators" and "victims" that rigidify relations between Jews and Germans. She will then explore techniques that can open up dialogue for deeper understanding of self, and of the other, creating a new way of relating to one's "enemies." Following the talk, Thomas Kühne, Strassler Professor in Holocaust History at the Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies will moderate a panel including Debórah Dwork, Rose Professor of Holocaust History and Director, Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies; Rebekah Phillips, Doctoral Student, Department of Psychology; Srinivasan Sitaraman, Assistant Professor, Department of Government; and Pamela Steiner, Project Director, Inter-Communal Violence and Reconciliation Project, Senior Fellow Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. Cosponsored by the Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies

This event is part of the Difficult Dialogues program at Clark University, for more information on the program and to see a complete listing of this fall's events, go to: http://www.clarku.edudifficult/dialogues