Dr. Julian Dierkes
271 Choi, 822-6237
j |dot| dierkes |at| ubc |dot| ca
For enrolment information, course structure, requirements, and evaluation, please see: Asia Pacific Policy Project
Orientation Meeting
Thu, Sept 6, 6:30p (after IAR 500 Methodology), 129 Choi.
At this meeting, we will discuss logistics for the course,
expectations, and possible revisions to the proposed topic.
First Meeting
Thu, Sept 13, 6:30p, 129 Choi.
Presentation by Amb. Gordon Longmuir.
Background reading in Julian Dierkes' mailbox (please sign out and be considerate of other readers):
Second Meeting
Tu, Sept 18, 10a-12p, 270 Choi.
Presentation on the Cambodian Education System by Darlene and Hiroko Hara (PhD Cand, Education Studies, UBC).
See below for readings on education.
Please come with a listing of the elements that would make up a proposal on teachers' training so that we can start a discussion on what elements the group wants to focus on.
Please also investigate the possibility of a project WiKi as a way to share documents. See the UBC WiKi Homepage for an introduction/tutorial.
Third Meeting
Tu, Sept 25, 9:30-11:30a, 270 Choi.
Experiences from last year's Asia Pacific Policy Project.
Other readings that have been suggested [Many thanks to Gordon Longmuir for most of these suggestions, project participants for other suggestions]:
General, Historical Background:
Commemoration of the Khmer Rouge Period:
Education in Cambodia:
Cambodia emerged from two decades of civil war, foreign invasion and mass murder in the early 1990s. The number of victims killed during the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-79) is conservatively estimated at 1.7 million, but may be much higher. Since the beginning of the peace process in 1989 Cambodians have been wrestling with the legacy of this history individually and in politics.
One of the most active players in this coming to terms with a violent past in Cambodia has been the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam). DC-Cam emerged out of efforts by the U.S. government to investigate the mass murder perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge. Initially based in the U.S. Department of State, these efforts were transferred to the Cambodian Genocide Program (CGP) at Yale University. DC-Cam was founded initially as a CGP field office, but became an independent Cambodian research institute in 1997. It continues to operate as an NGO, supported largely by donations and grants.
One of the main missions of DC-Cam has been to provide information about the "killing fields" to interested parties in Cambodia. Towards this purpose DC-Cam is collecting and cataloguing any information about mass murder under the Khmer Rouge. This collection effort is an important element in the prosecution of perpetrators of mass murder and other crimes against humanity in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.
Project participants will draft a policy document on enhancing outreach activities of DC-Cam. These recommendations will be aimed at the Canadian government (CIDA and/or DFAIT). Recommendations will focus especially on outreach activities towards teachers' education and the commemoration of mass murder (see, for example DC-Cam project on Genocide Education).
Following the general structure of the Asia Pacific Policy Project, participants will begin drafting individual research papers on specific areas of the overall policy document. These individual papers will form one part of the final document which will also have to integrate these disparate parts to form a coherent whole that offers clear guidance on why the Canadian government should fund outreach activities, what these activities should focus on, how they should be carried out, evaluated and funded, and what role such activities might play within the larger framework of reconciliation and development in Cambodia.
Introductory Sessions
A series of three sessions in the
second to fourth week of the term will provide background information
on the Khmer Rouge, and on the political and education
system.
Following these background sessions, participants will be expected to organize themselves in an effective way that is oriented toward the completion of individual papers as well as a collective policy document. Meetings may thus be more or less regular than a typical seminar, esp. if additional experts on various topics related to the overall task agree to meet with participants.
Tentative Due Dates
These dates are intended as a rough guide and are subject to change due to scheduling, availability of experts, etc.
If you're interested in participating in this term's Asia Pacific Policy Project, please contact Julian Dierkes.
September 2007