August 2008 Archives

Friends of the Human Rights Program (HRP) and the Creative Writing Program in the Department of English gathered at the Weismann Art Museum on May 30 to listen to acclaimed writers Patricia Hampl and James Dawes discuss writing about human rights. The event was a celebration of the University's "Scribes for Human Rights Fellowship." an initiative created in 2006 to support a Master of Fine Arts student to work with the HRP as a writer-in-residence. The Scribe serves as a storyteller - one who can transmit the deeply personal stories in human rights cases to a broader audience.
James Dawes and Patricia Hampl

To many who have followed the work of the Save Yar Campaign, it has become a familiar narrative: In October 2007, two young girls, Yar and Ajak Mading were abducted from the home of their grandmother in rural South Sudan. The abduction was violent and disturbing but strikingly similar to many hundreds of other abductions in the area in recent years. Yet, there was one major difference. The abducted girls had an uncle, Gabriel Kou Solomon, who was an American citizen already learning how to advocate for human rights. Daniel Bernard, Gabriel Kou Solomon, Eric Bernal, and Tracy Baumgardt testifying before Congressional hearing.