/news-archive/tag/transitional-justice/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Mon, 04 Mar 2019 14:37:17 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /news-archive/2019/03/04/davis-transitional-justice/ Mon, 04 Mar 2019 14:37:17 +0000 /news/?p=73554 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock student studies effects of reparations in post-civil war countries]]> A University of Arkansas at Little Rock student is conducting research on how measures to address histories of violence affect conflict-affected societies after spending the summer at a prestigious research and graduate preparatory program.聽 Solomon 鈥淩a鈥檖hael鈥� Davis, a junior Donaghey Scholar double majoring in philosophy and international studies, spent June and July at the at University of North Texas. Students participating in the program receive a $4,000 stipend, free room and board during the program, and paid travel expenses. Davis is one of only 10 students accepted to the program, where interns worked with faculty and graduate student mentors to conduct political science research on civil conflict management and peace studies. There, he started researching the impacts of transitional justice and reparations on post-civil war peace. Transitional justice is a term that refers to a range of policy measures, such as criminal prosecutions and memorials, that are designed to provide some form of justice for past human rights violations. The program also served as graduate school preparation, providing him with essential skills to pursue further education in political science and peace studies at the graduate level. 鈥淚 absolutely loved it. I made wonderful friends and connections. It opened up a different path to my career,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted to work toward international law, but now I can do that with political science and international relations, and it has opened up another path toward graduate school. I can do more traveling with hands on human peacebuilding research.鈥� Davis was inspired to apply for the program after taking a seminar on peacebuilding and post conflict reconstruction with Dr. Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm, associate professor in the School of Public Affairs. Davis鈥� research project is entitled, 鈥淩epairing the Breach: How Material and Symbolic Transitional Justice Affect Post Civil War Peace.鈥� 鈥淩a鈥檖hael鈥檚 research has the potential to make original contributions to the transitional justice field by distinguishing the effects of different types of reparations,鈥� Wiebelhaus-Brahm said. 鈥淭his project is the great foundation for a doctoral dissertation. Among other things, he will be building an original dataset that will aid future research on reparations.鈥� Davis studied the implementation of reparations in United Nations member countries that have experienced a civil war or conflict from the 1980s through the present. Reparations were classified as symbolic, such as having memorial ceremonies, governments issuing public apologies, and building museums to commemorate the event, or material reparations consisting of monetary compensation, property restitution, or other material benefits by the government to victims. 鈥淢aterial reparations have the ability to change the conditions in which a person exists,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淭he government can issue a public apology, but their living conditions don鈥檛 change and the physical conditions don鈥檛 change. That鈥檚 not to say that symbolic reparations can鈥檛 be powerful. I think rebuilding buildings with cultural value, having reconciliation ceremonies, and building museums and memorials can have an immense effect.鈥� Davis largely found that symbolic reparations only work well enough to reduce the probability of the resumption of the conflict when material reparations are made as well. 鈥淪o far, material reparations should work better than symbolic reparations, but they work better together,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 calculated the different types of material and symbolic reparations. Together, most of the mechanisms work well together except for the combination of amnesties in reparation. Providing amnesties to perpetrators along with reparations to victims is counterproductive. The museum-memorials variable paired with reparations doesn鈥檛 have statistical significance. There is also an argument that museums and memorials can cause retraumatization and anger.鈥� Davis is continuing his research with Wiebelhaus-Brahm and will present his findings at the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Student Research and Creative Works Expo on April 18. He is also the recipient of a聽Mentored Signature Experience Project Award. He used the award to pay for books and software needed to continue his research project as well as to fund his travel to present his research at the International Studies Association Midwest Annual Conference in St. Louis Nov. 15-17. In the upper right photo,聽Ra鈥檖hael Davis is researching which type of conflict reparations are most effective in conflict-affected societies. Photo by Benjamin Krain.聽]]> /news-archive/2018/06/25/wiebelhaus-brahm-teach-south-korea/ Mon, 25 Jun 2018 15:31:13 +0000 /news/?p=70874 ... Wiebelhaus-Brahm to teach at international summer program in South Korea]]> A University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor has been selected to teach in a prestigious international college exchange program in South Korea.聽 Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm, assistant professor in the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, will teach during the program at the University of Seoul. 鈥淭he goal for the summer program is to bring students from around the world to South Korea,鈥� Wiebelhaus-Brahm said. 鈥淭hey want to put South Korea on the map and to promote better understanding, appreciation, and knowledge of the country. International students get to see the country and experience the culture. The program also seeks to recruit faculty from around the world to teach in the program.鈥� First established in 2000, the program has provided international students with a great opportunity to learn about Korean culture and tradition. During the five-week program that meets from June 26 to July 26, students will take three courses in topics ranging from economics and business, international studies, Korean language, Korean studies, and urban studies. Students will also take cultural visits to Jeju Island, a volcanic island and World Heritage Site, Hwaseong Fortress, and the Demilitarized Zone. The course Wiebelhaus-Brahm is teaching, Globalization and Multicultural Societies, is a new introductory course for the International Studies program at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. Globalization and Multicultural Societies is an interdisciplinary introduction to the way in which international influences shape the world鈥檚 economies, governments, and societies, and their consequences for global conflict and cooperation. He is thankful to get the opportunity to teach a pilot version of the course to international students before the course debuts at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock in the fall. Outside of teaching, Wiebelhaus-Brahm will research South Korea鈥檚 experience with transitional justice and explore how the country deals with past human rights violations. 鈥淚n the past 15-20 years, remembering and memorializing past atrocities in South Korea has become more accepted,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou have efforts to memorialize atrocities that happened during the Japanese occupation in the first half of the 20th century and major massacres during the Korean War in the early 1950s. After the Korean War, South Korea was ruled by a series of military dictatorships, which periodically used mass violence against pro-democracy uprisings. I鈥檓 fascinated to learn more about South Korea鈥檚 experience with dealing with these events.鈥� Wiebelhaus-Brahm also plans to make contacts he can use in future research that will explore the international adoption of children. 鈥淚鈥檝e long been interested in developing a new stream of research outside of post-conflict/transitional justice and look at the politics of the international adoption of children,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something political scientists have not paid much attention to.鈥�]]>