Posted February 2, 2000

As scenes from the genocide in Rwanda emerged in the mid-1990s, the global community stood horrified. The savage war there turned families, friends and neighbors against each other, leaving more than 800,000 dead and the country ravaged.

Though the conflict has been over for several years, piecing Rwanda's social fabric back together has been a slow and painful process.

Through their words and images, author Philip Gourevitch and photographer Gilles Peress brought the Rwandan atrocities to the world's attention. The two will be on campus Friday, Feb. 11, to discuss "Genocide and the Challenges of Reconstruction in Rwanda," at 3 p.m., in the Toll Room at Alumni House.

The lecture will explore the causes of the genocide as well forgiveness,

appropriate limits of vengeance, coming to terms with the past to help the healing process, and strategies to prevent future conflicts.

Gourevitch is a staff writer at the New Yorker and author of the award-winning book "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories From Rwanda." Peress is a member and former president of Magnum Photos. His book, "The Silence," chronicles the Rwandan genocide.

The lecture launches a new Rockefeller Foundation program at Berkeley, which explores how political communities respond to systemic dislocations caused by dramatic world order shifts.

February 2 - 8, 2000 (Volume 28, Number 20)
Copyright 2000, The Regents of the University of California.
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