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Are Concentration Camps Back? What Can We Do?

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Wednesday, September 11, 2019
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Profs. James Chappel, Claudia Koonz, Robin Kirk and Roxana Bendezú

Have concentration camps appeared on American soil? Or, should we say, have they returned? This event is designed to provide a historical and legal overview of the confusing situation at the Southern border. Historians will provide context to help us understand what a "concentration camp" is, and how it differs from a prison. Other speakers will provide a cogent explanation of what is happening now, and what steps a Duke student might take. There will be plenty of time for Q&A.

Robin Kirk, Senior Lecturer of Cultural Anthropology and Co-Director of the Duke Human Rights Center at the Franklin Humanities Institute.

Claudia Koonz, Peabody Family Professor Emeritus of History at Duke, worked with Duke volunteers in Bosnian refugee camps during the mid-1990s and for the last ten years has mentored Duke Engage students in Sarajevo and Belgrade.

James Chappel, Hunt Family Assistant Professor of History, teaches modern European and international history at Duke. His work has dealt with themes of religious difference, incarceration, and genocide.

Roxana Bendezú, an immigrant woman of color from Lima, is an activist documentarian and socio-political analyst. In January of this year, Roxana founded Migrant Roots Media, an organization that seeks to serve as a platform that collects and amplifies the perspectives of as a platform that collects and amplifies the perspectives of migrants on the root causes of migration.

Contact: Emily Stewart