Centre for the Study of State Violence Grand Opening: Academic Panels and Keynote Speaker

Panel 1: Repairing Relations: Understanding and Challenging the Legacies of State Violence on Nbiising territory
9-10:30 a.m. | Outdoor Classroom 

ABSTRACT: Nbiising lands and waters ensure all who live and work here have the opportunity to live a good life, but how many humans reciprocate or reflect on this generosity? We do not have to look hard to find evidence that our more-than-human relations are unwell: declining fish populations, polluted waters, fire-prone forests, destroyed medicine habitat, and high rates of illness amongst all beings. These realities tell explicit stories about the historic and current consequences of state/colonial violence on this territory, yet many people do not imagine that a meaningful way forward is to repair and heal our relationships with lands and waters in order to address the legacies and ongoing evidence of colonial violence on Nbiising territory.Anchored on Nbiising territory, this intergenerational panel brings together scholars who have documented, considered, and challenged our understanding of the legacies of colonial violence on Nbiising territory. Importantly, they do so in ways that document these stories and set direction for the next seven generations.

Chair/moderator: Katrina Srigley, Nipissing University

Panelists/Discussants
Nicole Latulippe, Geography, University of Toronto, Scarborough
Carly Dokis, Anthropology, Nipissing University
Megan Paulin, MA, Nipissing University
Bee Dokis, BA, Nipissing University

Panel 2: Recovering Historical Silences
1-3 p.m. | Room A226 

ABSTRACT: Part of the historical process is recovering what has been lost. Damaged or destroyed documents, purposeful acts of forgetting, and the crafting of alternative narratives all pose challenges for historians. This panel brings together two scholars of state violence from different backgrounds to discuss how they restore the stories and voices that have been silenced. From photographs taken by victims, perpetrators, and bystanders of the Holocaust, to the American South at the beginning of the Black Power era, the panelists will reflect on the processes of historical amnesia and the ways in which their research deepens our understanding of state violence and its legacy.

Chair/moderator: Nathan Kozuskanich, Nipissing University

Panelists/Discussants
John Hayes, History, Augusta University “
“1970, 2020, and the Hidden History of Black Rebellions Against Police Violence”

Valerie Hébert, History, Lakehead University, at Orillia
“Perpetrator Depictions of Violence and the Obliteration of Evidence”

Recorded Message: Omer Bartov, Professor, Brown University

KEYNOTE
3:30-5 p.m. | Room A137 

Why Military History (Still) Matters

Geoffrey Hayes, History, University of Waterloo
Commentary: Stephen Connor, History

ABSTRACT:  In this keynote address, Dr. Geoffrey Hayes explores how the study of war helps us understand the exercise of state power, the experience of conflict, and the enduring legacies of violence. At a time when conflict and state violence continue to shape global affairs in significant ways, the keynote offers a timely, relevant, and pressing reflection on the value of military history