Students: Make a first and second choice from the list below and write a paragraph on your reason for those choices, i.e. what interests you particularly, personal connections, etc. Bring this paragraph to class on Thursday or email it to me before class. We will prepare for the interviews in class on Thursday (soccer players will meet on Monday with me; email me a time you are available.)

Jim

 

Perspectives on Altruism from Survivors of Genocide

This event brings together survivors and descendants of survivors of three genocides: the Holocaust, Rwanda and Bosnia. The students in a section of Freshman Year Seminar who are studying the possibility of altruism through the power of testimony will speak with these survivors in interviews over coffee at 10:30am at various locations around campus. All will join together for lunch in St. Joseph’s Lounge at noon . At the end of lunch and over dessert, the survivors and descendants will form a panel for summaries of their beliefs about altruism based on their experiences and after years of reflection. Those assembled will join in questions and comments, concluding the day with a lively discussion about what these historical experiences reveal about human nature and the potential to act in full regard for the other.

Guest Panelists

Ursula Pederson              Kindertransport from Germany to England

Hans Angress                    German refugee hidden in the Netherlands

Fred Graebe                     son of Herman Graebe, German engineer and rescuer of Jews in the Ukraine

Jeannette Ringold           Dutch Jewish child hidden in the Netherlands

Bihama Vedaste               child survivor of the Rwandan Genocide

Alma  Ferizovic and        child survivors of the Bosnian Genocide

Almir Zalihic