Post-Memory as Resistance: Documentation and Cultural Resilience in the Aftermath of Genocide

Monday, April 21 

Cheng Library Auditorium 

9:30 Check-in/ breakfast

10:00 Introduction

10:15 Panel: The Importance of Oral History in Genocide Education

Speakers: Dr. Alison Dobrick, Director, WPU Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Dr. Barbara Krasner, Director, Mercer County Holocaust, Genocide & Human Rights Education Center

Moderator: Dr. Alison Dobrick

11:15 Break

11:30 Panel: Post-Memory, Photography, and Documentation

Speakers: Exhibiting artists Diana Markosian, Ara Oshagan, and Levon Parian

Moderator: Ryann Casey, Before, After curator, Stockton University

12:30 Lunch

1:15 Gallery Tour of Before, After in Ben Shahn Center for the Visual Arts with artists Ara Oshagan and Diana Markosian 

Conference Description:

Post-memory describes the relationship that the generation after those who witnessed cultural or collective trauma bears to the experiences of those who came before, experiences that they remember only by means of the stories, images, and behaviors among which they grew up.  

This conference will focus on hearing from descendants who have transformed traumatic events through documentation that includes photography and other modes of art making, gathering testimony from oral histories, and reassembling family histories from journals, letters, and genealogical research. Building on the foundation of our fall programming which introduced audiences to what the genocide was, this event will share how Armenians, Armenian Americans, and others have cultivated resilience, recovery, and genocide prevention amid ongoing conflicts. Our hope is that this programming will provide concrete examples of how individuals are actively transforming their trauma and will empower audience members to feel agency over their own stories. 

Sponsored by the University Galleries and the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

*Hybrid Conference Note 

This is a hybrid conference. Audience members can participate via Zoom or in person. All audience members must register: Registration Link