Truth and Reconciliation

RSJ7260 Truth and Reconciliation

  Course Description

      “The past refuses to lie down quietly” –Archbishop Desmond Tutu

                               “Who controls the past controls the future” –George Orwell, 1984

This course will examine the approaches, considerations, dilemmas and tradeoffs societies and countries face when reckoning with legacies of mass atrocity stemming from conflict, repressive regimes, or long-term structural discrimination. We will explore the meaning and application of truth and reconciliation as part of an effort to move from an unjust past to a more just future—a discipline known as Transitional Justice. Through a combination of theoretical texts and case studies, we will analyze different approaches to truth seeking, the politics of memory, victim participation, building legitimacy, and the potential impact of truth and reconciliation efforts. Cases will be drawn from around the world, including from Africa, Australia, and the Americas.

Teaching Professor: The Restorative Justice Faculty at Vermont Law and Graduate School

Course Credits: 3

Required Textbook and Materials:

• There is no textbook required for this course. Students can find and access course material in each module of the course.

Do you want a PDF version of your Syllabus? Follow the Student User Guide to obtain a copy for your records.

  Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

1. Explain the key elements of truth and reconciliation within the field of transitional justice, including aims, dilemmas, obstacles and tensions.
2. Identify how concepts of truth and reconciliation have been applied in contexts dealing with legacies of mass abuse.
3. Compare and contrast the aims, dilemmas, obstacles, and tensions in defining and pursuing truth and reconciliation efforts in distinct country settings
4. Identify political, strategic, context, and cultural factors to consider in assessing truth and reconciliation efforts.
5. Analyze the complex cross-cutting issues at play in truth commission design, process, and post-truth commission implementation.

  Instruction and Evaluation Activities

Course Schedule

Module 1: Truth and Reconciliation: Definitions, Objectives, and Tensions

For the first module, we will focus on building our online learning community by getting to know each other. The readings and discussion will highlight the way transitional justice has been defined and examine how historical origins and political context have shaped the goals and approaches of efforts to seek truth and reconciliation.

Module 2: Amnesties in Theory and Practice: The South African TRC

This module will look at amnesties both in theory and in practice through the South African case.  This topic raises difficult dilemmas around the duty to prosecute, how to define accountability in contexts of mass atrocity, and how to balance those imperatives with political efforts to advance peaceful transitions.

Starting with this module on amnesties, over the course of the next few weeks we will look at different approaches or tools that can be used to help societies reckon with legacies of human rights violations and move towards a more just and peaceful society. 

Module 3: Acknowledgement and Memorials: How we Remember, What we Forget

In Module 3 we will look at different approaches to advance acknowledgement, including community truth seeking and memorialization efforts. We will look at this issue in the global context, with a focus on how these issues play out in the United States and The Gambia.

A guest speaker, Regina Campbell, Co-Director of the Rikers Island Public Memory project, will join us for a live discussion about community led efforts to Remember, Redress, and Repair. 

Module 4: Whose Truth? Centering Voices and Participation

In Module 4 we will focus on questions of representation and participation. Together, we will explore whose truths need to be shared and how? Who needs to listen? Who, if anyone needs to respond and how? How does the narrative shift when different voices are included? Reflecting on what we have discussed in the past weeks regarding the objectives of truth-seeking, who needs to be involved in these efforts and why?

Module 5: Truth Commissions: A Closer Look- Building Legitimacy and Impact

This module will focus in on one approach to seeking truth and reconciliation: Truth Commissions. As part of that closer look, we will examine what distinguishes a truth commission from other truth seeking approaches or from trials, questions to consider in establishing a truth commission, and the impact of truth commissions. This will include a discussion on the role of broader society and who needs to take responsibility for making truth commission recommendations a reality.

Module 6: Public Apologies: The Canadian Case

Following our in-depth look at truth commissions, in this module we will look at another approach to advancing truth and reconciliation: apologies. The readings and materials will analyze the role of public apologies in the context of transitional justice and invite us to reflect on what elements make an apology meaningful or not. With those guiding questions in mind, we will examine the Pope’s apology in Canada for the church’s role in the Indian Residential School system. The lecture for this week will take students through Canada’s journey to reckon with the legacy of the Indian Residential Schools, highlighting the interplay between individual choices, discussions in the public sphere, shifting attitudes, and political will.

Module 7: Reparations: Moving from Truth to Reconciliation

In this final module we will discuss reparations, another aspect of transitional justice in the journey from truth to reconciliation. After exploring the question of reparations, we will reflect back on what we have learned in the course over the past 6 modules. In the readings and discussion we will reflect on the question: what does a society need in order to move from truth to reconciliation?

A variety of learning activities are designed to support the course objectives, facilitate different learning styles, and build a community of learners. Learning activities for each module include the following: 

Methods of Instruction | Readings and Multimedia

This course will use a variety of instructional materials including journal articles, reports, content from web sites, and videos on a variety of topics.

Methods of Evaluation | Writing Assignments, Projects, and Assessments

This course will require written assignments and a final paper. All written work should be excellent, high-quality academic work. Poorly written, unedited assignments will not be awarded a top grade. It is vital at this stage in your career that you set high standards for your written work product.  All word counts include footnotes. Rubrics are provided for each assignment.  

For each module, there will be written assignment to help students work through the material and share questions and reflections. 

The course will culminate with a final essay due on the last day of the class. In module 4 students will submit their topic idea for review. 

Final Essay: Craft an argument supported by evidence that assesses the achievements and limitations of (some aspect of)  transitional justice in your chosen case. The final essays should include a discussion of extant scholarly literature on the topic (including materials read in class) and draw on primary documents (e.g. truth commissions reports, legal proceedings, official reports and/or data on reparation programs, public opinion poll/surveys, interviews, media coverage reports) and academic writing about your case. 

Your assignment submission should be roughly 3000 words in length. It should contain proper grammar, be free of spelling errors, and reflect critical thinking.

  Grading Policy and Scale

Final Grades in this course are determined by the following criteria. Assignments in this course are categorized as complete/incomplete (100 % or 0%). Each category has a weight as it pertains to your final grade.