Contact: Kari Bergstrom Henquinet, Women and International Development, bergst12@msu.edu, (517) 353-5040; or Geoff Koch, University Relations, (517) 432-0924, kochg@msu.edu

9/29/2005

A small child plays with a stick as if it was a rifle while a group of townspeople train to bolster the local security presence in south Sudan – a region where genocide has occurred, according to the United States and many human rights organizations. Image courtesy Ryan Spencer Reed. Information on Reed’s "Hands of a Displaced Sudan" photo exhibit in Jackson will be available at the Sept. 30 MSU teach-in.

EAST LANSING, Mich.  Organizers of a Friday teach-in want mid-Michiganians to understand the scale of the Darfur tragedy.

“Imagine all of East Lansing murdered and one in five Michigan residents fleeing their homes in terror,” said David Wiley, director of the Michigan State University African Studies Center. “That’s the catastrophe of Sudan, and the United States is in a position to use its power do something about it.”

The Sept. 30 MSU event aims to paint a picture of the concrete and often painful details about Darfur, the region in the African country of Sudan where the U.S. government says genocide has occurred. The event, which runs from 11:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Delia Koo International Academic Center on the MSU campus, is free and open to the public.

“Many initiatives have been waged by governments, individuals and various organizations to sanction the perpetrators in Darfur and to stop the killings and a terrible series of human rights violations,” said teach-in panelist Wiley, who’s also an MSU sociology professor.

“Despite all these efforts, this week the conflict in Darfur has spilled across the border with attacks on Darfur refugees in Chad,” Wiley said. “We have increasing
numbers of displaced persons and widespread violence against civilians, especially women.”

Teach-in organizers have focused in part on depicting on-the-ground realities of life in the conflict zone.

On Friday, the International Center lobby will feature informational tables from 9 to 11:45 a.m., hosted by student and community groups concerned about Sudan and conflict in Africa. Among those participating are STAND (Spartans Taking Action Now: Darfur), the Michigan Peace Team and “Hands of a Displaced Sudan,” a photo-documentary exhibit on Sudan that will open in Jackson on Oct. 1. At 11:45 a.m. there will be a screening in the International Center Library of “A Great Wonder,” an award-winning documentary about three Sudanese orphans.

Sudan expert Ali Ali-Dinar, who spent much of the 2005 summer in Darfur, will deliver a 1 p.m. keynote lecture titled “The Genocide in Darfur: Local and International Responses.” Ali-Dinar is current president of the Sudan Studies Association and outreach director of the African Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania where he founded the Darfur Information Center online.

“As a Darfur native and U.S.-based scholar, Ali-Dinar can comment on the situation in Darfur from multiple perspectives, giving valuable insight into the most effective ways to respond to this conflict from halfway around the world,” said Kari Bergstrom Henquinet, assistant director of the MSU Women and International Development program and one of the event organizers.

Ali-Dinar’s speech will be followed at 2 p.m. by a panel discussion and Q-and-A session on various aspects of conflict in Africa, including U.S. response and issues related to violence against women.

In addition to Wiley, panelists will include Rita Edozie, assistant professor in MSU’s James Madison College; Lindsey Hutchison, MSU international relations junior and student activist; and Benaiah Yongo-Bure, assistant professor of liberal studies at Kettering University.

Teach-in sponsors include several MSU-affiliated centers and programs, including the Center for Advanced Study of International Development, the Women and International Development Program, the African Studies Center, and the International Studies and Programs dean’s office.

The MSU African Studies Center maintains a Web-based resource, “Sudan, Darfur and Foreign Policy: A Resource Guide,” available at http://africa.msu.edu/news/sudanguide.php

For more information on the Darfur Information Center, visit the Web at www.darfurinfo.org/

For more information on international studies and programs at MSU, visit the Web at www.isp.msu.edu/