Prisoner of Her Past Presentation

Prisoner of Her Past Presentation

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Research Question for Final Project

How has torture been used differently by countries throughout the world? How has it been used similarly?

Potential Topic for Human Rights Conference Project

I am interested in the book, Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People: The Dynamics of Torture, by John Conroy which details three acts of torture in three different countries with three different circumstances.

Current Events in the Congo

Over the past year in the Congo, the news has been focused on the UN findings in regards to Rwandan genocide in the Congo. The two articles that I found are dealing with this topic. The first has to do with people in the Congo being taught to be CSIs and examining mass graves from the Rwandan killings of Hutu refugees. The UN report stated that Rwandan forces, sent by President Kagame, killed tens of thousands of Hutu refugees fleeing from Rwanda into the Congo. The second article is about the release of the UN report detailing the Rwandan genocide in the Congo, and the reaction of the Rwandan people and government. "The report by the UN human rights commission calls for a judicial investigation of possible war crimes after cataloguing years of murders, rapes and looting by various armed forces during a decade of conflict in Congo from 1993." Rwandan people demonstrated outside of the UN building in Geneva, Switzerland to protest their displeasure about the report. They are upset because they believe that the UN is lying and that they didn't do anything.

Questions-
Did Rwandans really commit genocide and kill Hutu refugees?
Is the UN report accurate in its findings?
If so, what should be done with those findings? What punishment for Rwandans?
What good will come from the report?
Could it do more harm than good by ending the peace in the Congo?

Articles-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/12/congo-forensic-scientists-hutu-genocide
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/01/un-report-rwanda-congo-genocide

Response to KLG small seminar 1

The idea or question that I have lingering after the small group seminar is the impact that Leopold's actions have on the Congo. In particular, elephant populations, the African people, and his agents living there.

I believe that our small group discussion was great. We were all able to put in our thoughts and there was no talking over each other or struggles to get my point in. I don't think that there is much we can improve on because this was one of the best discussions that I have ever been in.

Response to first section of King Leopold's Ghost

I found the first section to be very intriguing and I learned a lot about the early expeditions to Africa and the Congo river. I was interested in the jump from educating, in both schooling and religion, the people of Africa to enslaving them and taking their resources. One person that I found very interesting was Affonso who was one of the first Africans to learn Portuguese and he dictated many letters, which still exist today.

Two questions that I have are...
Why does and when does Henry Morton Stanley go back to Africa?
How, when, and by who was the Congo region divided out into separate countries?

Thoughts on end of class September 2nd

1. What did I learn?
2. What questions do I have?
3. What are you curious to learn more about?

Today in class, I learned the difference between Imperialism and Colonialism, and we looked into the effects that the two had during the period between 1871 and 1914. I, also, learned to use the anachronism, SPICER, which helps to explore events in history from multiple angles.

The questions that I have from todays class are: What are the rules or U.N. sanctions on imperialism/colonialism today?  When did countries decide to leave colonies or imperial-ized countries and why? What are the longer term effects of colonization or imperializing on a country?


I am curious to learn more about how the European powers started World War I and how the War effected their colonies and the original countries.

Current Events Practice

"Looking at Islamic Center Debate, World Sees U.S." Thanassis Cambis, New York Times.

The proposed building of a mosque near ground zero in New York is the topic being discussed in the article. This is a current event, within the last month, so it is not "breaking news" but it hasn't been long enough to analyze and discuss completely. The author does not mention how far away from ground zero the mosque is supposed to be built, and it would be helpful to know because it being built across the street is a lot different that 20 blocks away. To be able to report on this event, I would have to do more research on the proposed sight for the mosque to be built, and explore the arguments for both sides as this is mainly focused on countries other than the U.S., since it is being built here.

Which newsworthy events do you remember from your life?

On September 11th 2001, I was in Mr. Halverson's 3rd grade class and we were having cupcakes for Madi Franz's birthday when another teacher came in. She told Mr. Halverson that terrorists had hijacked planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center Towers and to turn on the radio. I remember going home and the news playing the crashes over and over and then the towers collapsing.

 Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was another event that I remember vividly. The news showed houses blowing away and people cutting holes in their roof to be rescued by the coast guard.

The earthquake in Haiti in 2010 was a third newsworthy event that I remember from my life. The pictures on the news of concrete buildings with the floors of the building collapsed together like a stack of pancakes. I remember announcements at school encouraging people to text the Red Cross line to donate money for relief.

My Mom's answers. . .
The three news worthy events that I remember from my life are man landing on the moon, the space shuttle challenger exploding and the 9/11 attacks.