Image, Memory and the Paradox of Peace: 15 Years After the El Salvador Peace Accords

Welcoming Remarks: Karen Engle and Donna DeCesare, University of Texas

Keynote Speakers

Introductory Remarks: Frances T. “Sissy” Farenthold, Board Member, Institute for Policy Studies

Keynote address: "Weakness, Deceit and Consequences"
Robert White, President, Center for International Policy, former U.S. ambassador to El Salvador

Keynote address: "'The Salvadoran Option': Iraq, Memory, and the Death Squad War"
Mark Danner, Professor of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley and of Human Rights, Bard College

Discussion moderated by Frances T. “Sissy” Farenthold

Opening of HRC Exhibition Inside El Salvador (Click here for link to Exhibition)

Introductions: David Coleman, Harry Ransom Center

Photographers Susan Meiselas and Harry Mattison will speak to the auditorium crowd about the Inside El Salvador exhibition, including a discussion of their experiences in El Salvador as well as the history of the traveling exhibition. They will present a slide show of some of the work displayed at the HRC. After their discussion, Meiselas and Mattison will take questions from the audience in the gallery space.

Reception and Exhibition Viewing

Food and drinks will be served in the HRC atrium.

Breakfast and Coffee

“Reconstructing a Historical Memory of Violence and Overcoming the Effects of Terror and War” (Click here for Video)

How can we preserve a memory of a tumultuous and violent era? Panelists explore the use of words and images in the reconstruction of historical truth and in the progression towards a more complete and valuable understanding of the conflict.

Introduction by Virginia Garrard-Burnett, University of Texas

Panelists:

• Chair: Charlie Hale, University of Texas
• Kamran Ali, University of Texas
• Arturo Arias , University of Texas
• Carlos Henriquez Consalvi, Museo de la Palabra y Imagen, San Salvador
• Jeffrey Gould, Indiana University
• Terry Lynn Karl, Stanford University

Coffee Break

“Conceptualizing and Using Human Rights Today: In the Shadow of War and ‘Peace’” (Click here for Video)

How has the recent violent past of El Salvador shaped the human rights situation in the country today? Panelists discuss how El Salvador is influenced, conditioned, and affected by the aftermath of the civil war and the peace process.

Panelists:

• Chair: Ariel Dulitzky, University of Texas
• Benjamín Cuéllar, Human Rights Institute of the Universidad de Centroamericana “José Simeón Cañas”
• Patricia Iraheta, Las Dignas�Asociacion de Mujeres por la dignidad y la vida
• Ellen Moodie, University of Illinois
• David Morales, former attorney, Tutela Legal del Arzobispado

Lunch

“Open Wounds and Closures: Transnational Dynamics Today” (Click here for Video)

What are the effects of the Salvadoran experience beyond the nation’s own borders? Panelists consider the transnational phenomena happening today as responses or effects of the war and the peace process, and how they evolved from ties that were developed during the war years inside of El Salvador. Furthermore, panelists will engage in an exploration of how United States policies influenced El Salvador, and how developments in El Salvador influenced policies in the United States, both during and after the conflict.

Panelists:

• Chair: Karen Engle, University of Texas
• Almudena Bernabeu, Center for Justice and Accountability
• José Miguel Cruz, Vanderbilt University
• Donna DeCesare, University of Texas
• Barbara Hines, University of Texas

Coffee Break

“Closing Session: The Legacy of Oscar Romero” (Click here for Video)

As one of the leading voices in El Salvador during the war years with a strong human rights and social justice message grounded in his Catholic faith, Archbishop Oscar Romero stands as a peer with other non-violent liberation voices such as Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King. This panel explores the influence of Oscar Romero’s views and actions today in El Salvador and beyond. Panelists consider the current relevance of Romero’s life and vision.

Panelists:

• Introduction: Emilee Dawn Whitehurst, The Rothko Chapel
• Interviewer: John Burnett, National Public Radio
• Bishop Medardo E. Gómez-Soto, Resurrection Lutheran Church of the Salvadorian Synod
• Thomas E. Quigley, former Latin American Policy Advisor for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Closing Remarks: Ariel Dulitzky, University of Texas