Caring for Difficult Knowledge: A Workshop

Caring for Difficult Knowledge: Prospects for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights 

(University of Winnipeg, Sept 27-29, 2013)

This workshop aimed to foster dialogue in support of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and the challenges it faces in representing human rights issues. Highlights included keynote lectures by Dr. Rita Kaur Dhamoon (University of Victoria), Dr. Olena Hankivsky (Simon Fraser University), and Dr. Erica Lehrer (Concordia University) as well as presentations by CSRG members and CMHR staff, and the participation of students from the MA Program in Cultural Studies.

The theme of the workshop was inspired by the collection Curating Difficult Knowledge: Violent Pasts in Public Places (Lehrer, Milton and Patterson 2011) wherein the editors reflect on the term “curate” – originally meaning “to care for” – and its significance in the context of spaces dedicated to public engagements with traumatic histories and violent pasts, such as museums, memorial sites and heritage tours.

See workshop invitation/cfp, schedule and abstracts, news release, and resulting publications.